Doors of Death: Light and Shadows
by TwinsOfNeptune
Summary: "Rays break at the flaming shore" The prophecy has come true but the adventure continues. Join separated familiar characters at the opposing two camps. This is the story behind The Mark of Athena. How did things go when the Seven great heroes travel to Rome and Greece, leaving Camp Jupiter and Camp Half-blood in chaos? We gave it our best shot. Please R&R.
1. Chapter 1 June

**Helloooooo, my readers! Sorry to have kept you waiting for so long! But, yes, I finally finished the first chapter. And to new readers, I strongly recommend you to read Nico's Double Troubles first, because the two stories are closely related. Anyway, the summary has already stated this story's main idea, so there's no reason for me to stall any longer.**

**I present you...the grand first chapter of Light and Shadow! Enjoy!**

**-Amber-**

**Disclaimer: You know I'm only a student. We definitely aren't Rick Riordan. And we definitely couldn't have written the PJ series and the HoO series. Everything recognizable from the books belong to RR!**

Chapter 1 June

After Percy Jackson left, I fell back into my bed. It was so soft, which cruelly contrasted with the most uncomfortable night I had squeezing with July in Fort Tryon Park. But I would do anything to exchange this real bed with that park bench. As I stared at the sky through the curtains, I spent a few minutes considering my situation. But thinking was getting me nowhere. I decided to scout around New Rome a bit and try to find Percy again. Maybe he can tell me what to do. I grudgingly got out of bed. Some new clothes were piled in the cabinet next to my bed. My backpack and hair pin was there too. So was my old outfit, apparently washed and dried, but my T-shirt was obviously torn beyond wearing. Looking at them wrenched my heart. I pulled on a new purple T-shirt and my old jeans, grabbed my belongings, and hurried out the room.

As I walked out of the door, I automatically halted and looked back. The room was empty, of course. Then why had I feel compelled to stop? I was confused, trying to figure out if something was missing. Then realization hit me with a pang. I was waiting for July. We were literally never a few meters away from each other all our life. If we weren't twins, if we weren't demigods who were constantly stalked after, we wouldn't be so close. I had gotten used to waiting for July. Tears stung my eyelids, but I push my emotions down and slammed the door shut. Compared to moaning over my misfortune, action was what I should choose.

After getting out of the hospital-like white building, I found myself standing on a bustling street. Rushing along the stone paved road were teenagers, some in casual clothes, some in shiny armor. Mingled among them were a few dozens of shimmering purplish ghosts. I was suddenly self conscious about my appearance, my chopped hair, my scrapped limbs…everything. But nobody paid me attention. I wasn't used to that, since July and I were always stared at because we're twins. But now I was grateful. I didn't need more inquiries. I walked down the road, with no clear direction. As I walked, I heard snippets of conversation from the Romans. They were smiling and laughing, talking about a battle yesterday. As far as I understood, Gaea sent an army of nasties to invade but Percy Jackson and his friends saved the day again. Percy's victory made me think of my failure. Why couldn't I protect my sister like he had protected the whole camp? Now I was even more certain that I had to find him. He would definitely have ways to send me to Camp Half-blood, wouldn't he?

I had reached a crossroad when I heard someone calling behind me. "Hey, you! Wait up!" Uncertain if it was meant for me, I looked back. A short plump boy with flaming red hair was pushing his way through people towards me. I could've ignored him, but his sweaty, flushed face made me unable to turn away, the way I couldn't turn away from kittens with a heat stroke.

"Thank you, thank you for stopping." The boy panted. He looked around my age, probably a few years older. "I looked everywhere for you!"

"You were looking for me?" I asked.

"Yep. Reyna assigned me to keep a watch on you because the Lares said…ah, um, whatever. Anyway, I am to show you the routines. I'm Bobby, by the way, from Fifth Cohort, son of Ceres. What's your name?" Bobby held out a friendly hand, covering up for whatever he let slipped.

I shook it, managing a smile. _Keep a watch over me, huh? The Romans surely are guarded._ I wondered what the "Larries", whoever they are, said about me."June Loras. What are the routines you're supposed to show me?"

Bobby answered: "Well, I could show you around the camp and the city, but mainly I have to take you to Octavian."

"Octavian? Who's that?" I asked.

Bobby made a face as he led me down a road which, according to the street sign, led to New Rome. "He's the augury, a real pain. You're new here, right? Anyone who arrives at camp without announcement or introduction has to be tested before being accepted. Normally, the praetors, they're Reyna and Percy, should be the ones that receive you, but things are kinda intense these days and they can't really spare time now. Octavian will interrogate you and read the auguries."

_Interrogate? Auguries? _I wondered if I would be shown an enemy.

Seeing that I was silent, Bobby asked uncertainly: "Is anything wrong?"

"No, no." I lied. "It's just a lot to take in."

He nodded sympathetically. "So do you know how you got here? Do you know anything about yourself, I mean who's your parent or…"

I cut in: "I'm a daughter of Apollo." I paused. I somehow knew I shouldn't tell the whole truth. "And I'm not really sure how I got here. I was being chased by monsters…then I sort of blacked out."

"Really?" Bobby frowned. "Maybe someone saved you and sent you here."

"Yeah, maybe. Are you taking me to Octavian now?" I changed the topic.

"Not now, all the officers are at senate now. How about…" He grinned at me. "some fabulous Roman breakfast in New Rome? I can tell you about Camp Jupiter and the city on the way."

xxx

It turns out Bobby was a good guide. He took me all over New Rome, pointing out all the magnificent buildings and statues. He also told me all about how things worked in Camp Jupiter, which I think Reyna wouldn't be too happy about. After all, I wasn't officially decided as friend or foe yet. However, my heart wasn't really in the sightseeing, which is hard to do when you are defenseless in enemy grounds. The boundary god and his assistant insisted on pulling out my golden pin. More importantly, I kept thinking how I should find Percy and what I should say when that Octavian guy interrogates me. On the other hand, I imagined how things were going for July and Landyn. Better than me, I bet. At least they wouldn't be assigned a _guard_ (Even though my guard is more like a tour guide).

Fate obviously didn't pardon me for my bad luck on the quest. According to Bobby, the senate was still going on, after we've walked around all over the city and the sun had already been hanging high in the sky for a long, long time. Initially not recovered completely, I was already feeling tired. We stopped at the fountain between the senate house and the forum. Many chunks of the stone fountain were missing and some parts crumbled, result of yesterday's battle, but the fountain was still standing and spurting clear cool water.

"How long till they finally get out?" I groaned as I dropped onto the marble rims. I covered my face, elbows on my knees. The fountain gurgled and sprayed water behind me cheerfully.

Bobby answered timidly: "I'm not sure. It's taking a lot longer than usual. Why are you so eager for the senators to come out? Octavian will interrogate you sooner or later. There's no need to rush."

I shrugged. "I want to take a shower and get some more sleep, which can't be done if I'm not accepted." The lie came naturally, as I did want those things.

Bobby sighed. He plopped down next to me and muttered: "Finally I get assigned to one _slightly important _job, and now my subject is upset. Why can't I do anything right?"

I looked up. Bobby looked so frustrated and disappointed that I felt bad for him. "I'm sorry. It's not your fault. You're a great guide. It's just that…I have other things on mind, Ok?"

Bobby managed a grateful smile. "You know, Fifth Cohort never had much glory, until Jason Grace and Percy Jackson came along. But still, it's like they get all the attention and important tasks and…stuff. I'd like to do something greater than feeding Hannibal all day long too."

I nodded in sympathy and patted his hand. I was sort of surprised, in a good way, that Bobby was telling me, a total stranger, all this.

"I just don't get the opportunities much and this time, Reyna assigned me to watch an apparent that the Lares thought dangerous and suspicious, probably a Greek spy! Now, that's something I just can't screw up…Oops." He covered his mouth and looked at me in horror.

My thoughts must have shown on my face, since Bobby looked truly regretful. _Dangerous and suspicious? A Greek spy? _So apparently, I am not in a good state. If the Lares (Roman house spirits, Bobby told me) suggested so much, I had a feeling that Octavian would not give me an easy time.

"I wasn't supposed to say that! I'm sorry!" Bobby jumped up in panic. "Please forget what I said! Even though the Lares can't decide whether you're really Roman or Greek, you're a good person to me; you'll be absolutely fine…"

"Calm down, Bobby!" I composed myself and in turn tried to quiet Bobby down." It's ok. I won't tell. Not a big deal, anyway. Last I checked, I am no spy or dangerous object."

"Really? Thank goodness, because if they decide you are a threat, you'll be killed!" Bobby let out his breath in relief.

I gulped. I hoped I could find Percy before I meet Octavian and possibly get sentenced to an excruciating Roman death. I'd tell Percy enough to beg him to help me out.

Suddenly, horns sounded loudly, resonating all the way from Camp Jupiter's fort. We jumped up. It took me a second to realize what was wrong. A huge shadow passed the senate building and the forum. I looked up and momentarily forgot how to breathe. A huge bronze and gold warship hovered over the city, gleaming in the sunlight. A figure in a purple cloak stood on the raised crossbow platform, in plain sight. Several teenagers clustered the deck. Roman citizens started to file out onto the streets.

"Oh, gods. It's Jason! _That's _what they were talking about last night." Bobby stared at the ship, jaws hanging open.

"What?" I asked, feeling completely bewildered, "That's Jason? What were they talking about?"

But before Bobby could answer, people in what seemed to me like towels rushed out of the senate house. Everybody was crowding over. I heard some whisper: "The Greeks! They're really not going to attack us?" "Let's just hope Jackson won't turn out to be a betrayer."

I finally recalled Nico telling me about this. The war ship was from Camp Half-blood, which means the passengers are all from the Greek camp (well, expect for Jason Grace). Which also means my chances of getting help getting back to July and Landyn increased greatly. _Yes! _I secretly pumped my fist. I started to squeeze through the crowd.

However, I underestimated how oppressive a mob of excited and nervous Romans can be. Once I was in the crowd, I could hardly move around without stepping on someone or elbowing another. I tried my best to peer over all those heads. Being too short, I wasn't doing a very good job. I could barely see the small explosives coming from the ship, though unable to figure out what they were. I also managed to spot Percy at the front of the people, docked in a purple cloak just like what Jason was wearing. Judging the number of people between me and him, my chances of getting to him was very slim.

After some time, I was getting frustrated. I could hear people shouting aboard the ship, but nothing was really going on. And I was stuck among a bunch of Romans, getting nowhere while Percy was engaged in serious conversation with Reyna, the beautiful dark haired praetor.

"What's going on?" I demanded at Bobby, who was behind me.

I couldn't turn to face him, but I heard him answer: "I guess Terminus is not giving the ship permission to land. That's good. It makes them a less threat." He sounded more like reassuring himself. I couldn't blame him though; the war ship looked anything but friendly with all those weapons.

Then, a rope latter tumbled down from the ship. Everybody gasped and took a collective step back, almost knocking me down. Reyna and Percy's conversation broke off. They all looked at the ship, Reyna apprehensive, Percy eager. I immediately trained my eyes on the latter. One by one, teenagers all in orange T-shirts climbed down. There was a blond girl, a girl with choppy dark hair, a boy with curly brown hair and Jason Grace, the son of Zeus, himself. I analyzed them quickly, or as best as I could, seeing through various heads. The blonde girl was a leader, probably owning even more authority than Jason. She scanned the crowd carefully and piercingly. Jason, on the other hand, seemed to be straining to hide his excitement of returning home as well as his nervousness of coming back with the Greeks.

Once the Greek demigods were all on the ground, the crowd parted as they walked through the forum. Suddenly the crowd cried out in alarm and surged forward. I tried to get a peek of what was happening, but in vain. The Romans were like a solid wall in front of me. Bobby was no help either, as he was basically not much taller than me. Luckily, the excitement passed quickly so I had more space to breathe again.

Annoyed, I was trapped in the crowd for all the time I guessed the two camp leaders exchanged words. When the crowd finally moved, it was to arrange for lunch.

The moment people started to make way for couches and low tables to be carted into the forum, I darted around them and searched for Percy. Sadly, nothing went well for me, as usual. Teenagers kept blocking my path; Bobby trailed after me, asking me where I was going; couches and tables tripped me. It seemed that I just couldn't get to the spot where Percy, Jason and all the officers stood. Slowly, the temporary lunch room on the plaza got in place. People started to group together and choose tables. I quickly navigated towards the tall black-haired son of Poseidon. He was seated around a table slightly larger than the others, together with all the more important Roman officers and the Greek guests. Just then, a hand grabbed my arm and jerked me into a stop. I whirled around and instinctively reached for my bronze knife, which I forgot was broken and lost.

"Where d'you think you're going?" Bobby asked breathlessly. Apparently, he had a hard time keeping up with me.

I swallowed the urge to groan. "Nowhere. I just want to have a word with Percy."

Bobby shook his head in disbelief. "This is the Roman city, and he's the praetor. You can't just interfere with their meeting! They are of higher ranks, plus you're not even technically accepted!" Some people were starting to stop by his side, looking at me curiously.

I gritted my teeth. Through my observations, I had long guessed the Romans were more disciplined and stricter than normal American mortals, probably the Greeks too. I contemplated the situation, but I couldn't think of any solution. Defeated, I forced a smile at the observers and said: "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know."

Bobby smile, relieved that I wasn't going to give him more problems. "Ok. Ok, then, let's find a table and have some lunch. I can introduce you to Percy once they're finished. Come on, we'll sit with my Cohort. Wait till you meet my friends, they're great!"

I followed him obediently to several tables with a bunch of laughing and joking kids seated. Bobby introduced me cheerfully and I said hello, but actually I was looking back at the praetors' table from time to time.

So far so good, nothing much seemed to be happening at Percy's table. I relaxed a little and turned my attention to the food, which was excellent, by the way. I tried to reassure myself: I can always find Percy later, right? It's not like he's going to disappear.

I was totally wrong, as anybody with sense could've guessed.

xxx

As I inhaled all the delicious food of my choice, gulped all kinds of cool drinks, I finally realized how hungry I was. My Roman style breakfast had obviously vanished a long time ago. The guys in the Fifth Cohort were actually nice, just as Bobby had said. They welcomed me warmly, but unluckily showed great interest in my "mysterious history". I tried to cover the quest while I answered questions about almost everything in my life.

One girl asked: "June, did you do your hair like that on purpose? It looks so choppy."

I was about to come up with another ridiculous lie when someone else interrupted.

"Hey, June, you have siblings?" Dakota, the Kool-Aid addicted senior centurion asked.

I practically choked on my potato salad. I wasn't prepared for that. July's limp bloody figure flashed into my mind. My throat tightened painfully. _She's fine now. Apollo healed her. She's in good hands. _I told myself again and again while pretending to be swallowing a particularly large bite of shredded lettuce. "Siblings? Yeah, I do. A sister." I replied casually.

"Younger or older?"

"Actually…" I stopped myself before I said we're twins. However nice they are, I wasn't going to trust them completely. "Uh, I mean, younger."

Dakota grinned, showing his red stained teeth:" Thought so! You look like the big sister kind."

_Really? _I thought bitterly. July hated me acting like a big sister. And even if I acted like one, I definitely wasn't a good one. What sort of big sister would dodge an attack only to let it fall on her little sister?

"So, does your family know you're here? Many demigods come with their family's recommendations, but there are some who showed up totally unexpected. "Dakota continued to ask.

Bobby cut in: "Oh, she's unexpected. She just popped out of the ground in a black ball." He looked proud that he knew "all about me" because he's my "guard".

Dakota rolled his eyes, "Everybody in camp knows how she got here, Bob. I'm asking if it was her family that sent her here."

"She says she doesn't know how she got here!" Bobby insisted, trying to save himself from being humiliated.

I could see even in his own Cohort, he was sort of an underdog. Not that his fellow legionnaires were mean or rough on him. Feeling sympathetic again, I piped up to support him."Yeah, I don't know how I got here. My family has no idea where I am."

As I said that, I suddenly realized I had never thought how worried Mom would have been. So many days of dangerous questing, but not a single word from her daughters, Mom must have been worried out of her mind. Guilty tears involuntarily brimmed my eyes.

"Oh, I'm so sorry." A girl said softly. Everybody seemed to soften up, like they could relate to my feelings.

"Hey, we can send a message to your family…once Octavian has officially accepted you." Bobby patted my hand. I nodded, composing myself.

Before I knew it, lunch was nearly over. I looked up at one point and jolted to find many people starting to leave the forum. I looked towards Percy's table immediately—except there was no table. _Percy had already left._ I got up so fast that I knocked my bowl of remaining tomato soup over. Bobby and his friends all jumped and stared at me questioningly. Mumbling "Bathroom." , I started to make my way out of the forum.

Once I got out of their eyesight, I whirled around wildly, hoping to catch of glimpse of Percy or any of the Greeks. But apparently, I was way too late. None of them was in sight. I cursed myself for being so stupid. After spending a whole morning waiting to see Percy, I lose my chance because I got too friendly with the Romans. Who knows if it was actually a secret order for them to keep me away from Percy? So that I wouldn't have a chance to corrupt him and start an assault, because "_I was a Greek spy"? _I wanted to slap myself. Before Bobby or one of the girls could come out to see why I had been out for so long, I picked a random direction and started to run.

**So...that's all for the first chapter! How do you like it? I hope my writings hadn't turn worse! _**

**Please tell me your thoughts on this chapter! Did you think Bobby's character was weird? He was actually mentioned in the Son of Neptune. Not that he's of any importance. I just didn't want to add any more OCs. What do you think about the way I developed June's character?**

**I'm so nervous! I'll be waiting for your reveiws! :)**

**-Amber-**


	2. Chapter 2 July

**Hey, finally I have come back! With a new chapter, no less. Have you missed Landyn and July? Have you missed Camp Half-blood? (I'm not going to ask if you have missed _me_.) Originally, this chapter was supposed to come before Amber's chapter. But blame me; I hadn't been able to finish on time. Anyway, I won't hold you from reading the chapter any longer now. Please enjoy! **

**-Hazel-**

Chapter 2 July

After the little visit from Apollo, Landyn insisted that I should lie for some more time. He shooed the campers out of the room and settled back in the chair beside my cot. So I lay obediently and stared at the ceiling.

"How are you feeling, July?" Landyn asked in a concerned voice.

"Mmmm. Better." I replied sullenly. "How long was I out?"

"Nearly 20 hours." He answered. I cursed myself for being so weak under my breath. Although I had no idea how the four of us ended up scattered like this, I was fairly sure it was my fault. Melinoe was right; I was weak and useless…

"It's ok, July." Landyn comforted. "You didn't die, and that's what really matters." I managed to push the negative thoughts away and gave him a grateful smile. It felt so strange to be comforted by Landyn. And only then did I realize I had never really gotten close to the boy during our quest. Probably because we were too busy fighting monsters. Or because he was talking to June most of the time…Fine, maybe it was because I was too focused on Nico.

"What about you? How are_ you_ feeling?" I questioned. I'd decided that I should try to know more about him and give him some support as he gave me.

Landyn was quiet for a while. Then he said: "I'm feeling fine." I turned my head on the pillow and studied his face. He was leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, looking at his hands with sad eyes. He was definitely not feeling fine.

"Tell me what happened." I prompted.

He sighed softly explained briefly.

"…So I took you and brought us to Camp Half-Blood."

"What about June and Nico?" I asked anxiously. Landyn shook his head.

"Honestly, I don't know." He said. I bit my lips, a thousand possibilities running through my head.

"But I'm sure they are ok. They are tough. They must have smashed their pearls the moment they got the chance. Only they transferred to some other place." Landyn assured, putting on a brave smile and patting my hand. A lump formed in my throat. I was so worried about my sister and Nico. Landyn must have felt the same, but he's trying to seem convinced for my sake. I nodded.

After a period of silence, I suggested: "I think I'm well enough to get out of bed now. I want to look around camp. Then maybe we can think of a way to contact my sister."

Landyn considered it for a minute. "Are you sure you're strong enough?" He asked.

"All better." I promised and swung my feet off the bed. I stood up and spread out my arms in emphasis.

"Ok, ok. I see you're fine." Landyn grinned. "Actually, I never got to check out this camp with you in coma." So together, we exited the little infirmary. I found that we were in a large wooden farm house of some sort. It was quite empty. As we made our way out of the house, we passed through a room-a parlor, I guessed-decorated with a lot of thick, leafy grape vines like it was attacked by a purple and green tornado, which was quite unusual. But since no one was there, we couldn't ask anybody about it. We got out on a long porch that appeared to go all the way around the house, looking over to a beautiful valley.

It felt good to be under the sun again, listening to birds chirp and kids laugh. The bright green color of trees and plants stung my eyes. All I had been seeing in Underworld was dark or red. I took a deep breath and enjoyed the fresh air.

"It's nice to be up here again, huh?" Landyn said.

"Yeah." I replied. But in the back of my mind, I sort of hoped we were still in Underworld. Without our lost companions, I just couldn't appreciate the pleasant summer day as I usually would. Just then, I heard clopping voices like hooves hitting on wooden floor. I turned and backed up so fast I almost knocked Landyn down. What I saw was tall middle-aged man. Very tall, indeed, that his head almost touched the ceiling. He had thinning hair and a scruffy beard. Oh, how do I explain the weird clopping sounds? He had hooves, obviously. The man was a great white stallion waist-down. I gaped.

"Hello, Chiron." Landyn greeted naturally, as if he saw half-man half-animals every day.

"Landyn." The centaur nodded. "And I see Miss Loras is up already? Will told me Apollo visited but I was seeing Jason and the others off." He explained. Then he turned to me.

"How are you, my child?" He asked kindly.

"F-fine…Mr. Chiron." I managed. "Um, are you _the _Chiron that trained Jason? No, wait. You were just seeing _Jason_?" I asked in sudden realization.

"Yes and no." Chiron laughed. "I did train the original Jason thousands of years ago, but I did not train Jason Grace, whom I had just talked with."

"Oh, right." I muttered, feeling a bit embarrassed.

"Well, I've heard from Landyn that you two were ah, questing with Nico di Angelo before arriving at Camp?" He suddenly turned serious.

I nodded, trying to keep down the lump that formed whenever I thought of Nico. "With my sister too. We got separated." I managed.

"I've heard." Chiron said sympathetically.

"Chiron, can we have a drachma to Iris-message them?" Landyn asked. The lump in my throat disappeared immediately. _Why hadn't I thought of that?_ Excitement bubbled in my heart.

"Can we, please?" I echoed eagerly. But Chiron looked at us sadly.

"Sorry, children. I'm afraid Iris-messaging won't work. You don't know where they exactly are, do you? You need to have the precise address."

Landyn's face fell as dramatically as Chinese mask-changing magic. I guessed my expression mustn't have been much better because Chiron sighed and looked genuinely sorry for us. At this moment, a tall blond boy came jogging towards us.

"Chiron!" He said, stopping before us. "Juniper says she got a piece of information that might tell us where Grover is. But she seems quite upset."

Chiron frowned. Then he replied: "Thank you. I'll go to her right now. In times like this, we have to get all the allies we can get." He glanced at us and added: "Will, would you please give these two a tour around camp? And remind the other cabin counselors that we are holding a meeting at eleven." The boy nodded.

"Thank you." Chiron said. "Well, I shall be going." I wanted to ask him what "times" this was but before I could stop him, Chiron gave us a final nod and trotted away.

Will turned to Landyn and me. "Hi, I'm Will Solace, head counselor of the Apollo Cabin. Welcome to Camp." He said in an almost dutiful way, but smiling. I figured that my head counselor was a couple of years older than us. It suddenly occurred to me that Will was technically my older half-brother. Cool, I've always wondered what it was like to have a brother. But the thought also made my heart wrench of the absence of June.

We smiled back and introduced ourselves.

"You're a son of Aphrodite?" Will said to Landyn as he led us down the porch. "I never thought a child of Aphrodite, other than Piper, that is, could go on a quest…uh, no offense."

"None taken." Landyn said easily. I wondered if he ever felt angry about people always judging him because of his parentage. If he did, he surely was good at hiding it.

Will told us about Camp: its magic protections, activities for campers, monsters in the woods, etc. As we walked along, Will pointed out the open-air dining pavilion, the stables, the arena and a bunch of other Greek architectures. I even spotted a beautiful strawberry field and a climbing-wall that strangely glowed red at the bottom.

"You mean it never rains here?" I perked up at once when Will mentioned that the weather at Camp was controlled. I hated rainy days.

Will chuckled. "Yeah. Like that? It's one of my favorite things about camp too."

"Anyway, here we are: the cabins." He said. We'd arrived before the weirdest collection of buildings I've ever seen. Twenty cabins of different designs and styles were arranged like the Greek letter omega. In the middle of the buildings there was a central green and strangely, a fire pit.

"Each cabin represents a god or goddess. Children of one god live together." Will explained, at the same time waving at some guys who were playing basketball on the central green. They had abnormally accurate aims. But some of them stopped playing and stared at me, whispering to each other. A few of them wore curious expressions, while others looked somewhat a bit jealous.

"My half-siblings?" I asked. I guessed Apollo didn't show up and save his children's lives every day. I had been used to being stared at because I almost always had a replica of myself standing beside me. People tend to be interested in twins. But this time, June wasn't with me. The campers recognized me for my dramatic arrival. It made me a bit uncomfortable.

"Yep. I'll introduce you later." Will said. "I have to look for the other cabin counselors now. Why don't you get settled in your cabins? I think you'll be able to figure out which cabin yours is. And July, I've already had someone prepare a bed for you."

"Thanks, man." Landyn said. I thanked him too and we watched him go over to a cabin that had blood red paint splashed on the roof and barbed wire trenches around it. Landyn and I looked at each other.

"Ares." We said together and grinned. The gods and goddesses that the cabins represent were fairly easy to guess. We walked slowly past them, examining the peculiar decorations of each one. We realized that the cabins of goddesses were on one side while the cabins of gods were on the other side. Cabin 6 was a gray building that had an owl carved over the door. Landyn and I decided that it was the Athena cabin. And the cabin with grass on the roof and all kinds of plants flourishing in the window boxes must be the Demeter cabin. Then, a sickly sweet smell of perfume wafted over to us. We looked ahead and instantly knew where the smell came from. Next to a beautiful cabin that was silver and glowing stood an over-sized doll house. At least that was what it looked like to me. The house had a pink door and lace curtained windows. Ironic how the Artemis cabin and the Aphrodite cabin were put beside each other. I glanced at Landyn. He was frowning slightly.

"Not what you expected?" I asked. He shook his head.

"I had expected this." Landyn said. Then to my surprise, he turned to me and grinned. "Looks like they need a house make-over."

"A HUGE one." I agreed, smirking back. "Go and make a difference, Green."

"That sounds like something from an inspiring movie." Landyn laughed. "You sure can find your way to you cabin without me, Miss No-sense-of-direction?"

"I can _see_ it from here, thank you very much." I said, rolling my eyes. He ruffled my hair and walked towards the posh cabin. I turned and started off towards Cabin 5, the one which I guessed was Apollo's.

On the outside, Cabin 5 looked pretty ordinary. It didn't have any crazy décor or eye-ball catching designs. It was as plain as the Artemis cabin. Actually, the two buildings look almost the same, except that the Apollo cabin glowed golden instead of silver.

Before I entered the Apollo cabin, I took a look at the cabin next to it-Cabin 3. It a low blueish-gray building made of sea stone. It would've been sort of cute, except it was empty and sad. _Percy Jackson's cabin._ I thought. I glanced at the Apollo cabin again and back. Finally, I couldn't resist the urge to peek into Percy's cabin. I walked up to the blue door and put my hands on the doorknob. Surprisingly, it wasn't dusty as I thought it would be. I twisted the knob and pushed the door open gently. I smelled a scent of the salty sea. The inside was just as simple as the outside. There wasn't much furniture either, only two beds, pushed against opposite walls. The windows were looking out to the sea. I took a tentative step forward, then another. As I walked deeper into the room, I noticed the traces of Percy Jackson here and there. A polished bronze shield was hung above one of the bunk beds, beside a…was that a Minotaur's horn? Just then, I caught something glinting in the air. _What?_ I looked up and saw a dozen of miniature bronze figurines hanging from the ceiling. They were glittering as if someone polished them every day. In fact, the whole place was clean and tidy. I couldn't have guessed that its owner had been gone for months.

"Hey." A voice suddenly said. I jumped and twirled around. Leaning on the doorframe was a 17-looking girl with curly red hair.

"I think if Percy had a sister, I would know." She said. "You're not a child of Poseidon, are you?"

"Oh, no. I was just, um, looking around." I stammered. "Sorry, I'll leave right now."

"It's ok. You don't have to be so nervous." The girl said, giving me a bright smile. "You must be the girl they were talking about, the daughter of Apollo who returned from Underworld."

"It's not like I came back from the dead." I muttered. _The girl they were talking about? _Gods know what stories they made up.

"Well, according to them, you had a close call. Anyways, I'm Rachel." She said.

"Hi. I'm July." I responded.

"Interesting name." Rachel commented. _Not the first time I heard. _I thought. It painfully reminded me of the deal I made with Nico to tell him the story of the Loras twins' names. I hadn't had the chance to do my part of the deal.

"Are you a friend of Percy's?" I asked as Rachel walked into the room and stopped beside me, reaching up to touch the dangling figurines.

"Yeah. But I'm not a half-blood." She replied, her eyes resting back on me. "I was born with keen sight. That is, I can see through the Mist. Now I am the Oracle of Camp Half-blood."

"Cool. And weird." I said. Rachel laughed.

I was about to ask her about being "the Oracle of camp Half-blood" when I heard Landyn's voice calling.

"Oh, I gotta go. I should've been settling down in my own cabin." I said and started towards the door.

"Your boyfriend's cute, I saw him." Rachel grinned.

"He's not my boyfriend!" I protested, taken back slightly. Rachel shrugged.

"Whatever you say. I'll see you at lunch or some other time."

"Yeah. Bye," I said as I ran for the door. "And believe me, Landyn is really just a friend!" I heard Rachel laughing behind me. When she said that Landyn was my boyfriend, which was ridiculous, June unexpectedly flashed into my mind. I felt that had to defend myself, for her sake. I shook my head and tried to look normal as I greeted Landyn outside the cabin.

"What are you doing in Cabin 3? I thought the Apollo cabin was Cabin 5?" He asked, crossing his arms.

"I'm sorry. But that was Percy Jackson's cabin. I just had to go in." I explained.

"Ok, but listen, the counselors' meeting is about to start." Landyn said in a hurried manner.

"Yeah, so?" As far as I knew, I was no counselor, nor was Landyn one.

He glanced around as if making sure no one could overhear us.

"I heard that a satyr was missing and Chiron seemed to want to launch a search for him—"

"For a _satyr_?" I blurted. Well, it did seem a bit of an overkill to launch a search for a goat-man. I mean, I've seen dozens of satyrs running around camp.

"He's important, super-powerful, whatever. The point is they are going to call on a quest to find him." Landyn said impatiently. "It might be our only chance to get out of camp and find your sister and Nico."

I stared at him. "We have to take a quest to get out of this camp?" Sure, I was supposed to jump at words "find your sister and Nico" since that was the biggest thing in my mind. But I hadn't expected the time to come so fast. And I had assumed that we could leave camp and start our journey whenever we were ready.

"Yes. If you try to leave camp without permission from Chiron, you'll be either exiled from camp or eaten by harpies." Landyn explained. I nodded slowly in understanding. Chances of Chiron permitting us to leave camp were slim. And even if I could handle the harpies, never being able to come back to Camp Half-Blood would really suck. Although I had just come here, I already knew that camp was the only place for demigods to be safe and feel normal. June would probably get involved in the punishment too, though she never set foot here.

"Ok," I said finally. "So we'll volunteer for the quest?"

"That's right." Landyn grinned. "But first, we need to have a little chat with our helpful counselors."

xxx

Ten minutes later, Landyn with his intriguing, or misleading, face somehow convinced Will and the girl in charge of the Aphrodite cabin that they didn't need to attend the meeting.

So who went to the counselors meeting on behalf of the two cabins? Landyn Green and July Loras, surprise, surprise.

"May I ask what are you two doing here?" Chiron frowned and asked when we walked into the rec room which apparently was the meeting room in the Big House, as the large house I had waken up in was called. I observed over a dozen boys and girls in their late teens crowding around the Ping-Pong table. They stared at us too.

Landyn cleared his voice. "Um, Will tripped over his bow and sprained his ankle. Drew suffocated because her perfume was too much." He announced solemnly. Laughter broke out among the counselors when they heard the terrible fate of the Aphrodite girl.

"But she lived. She's just resting now." Landyn added quickly when he saw Chiron's face darken even more.

"Yeah. No worries. We came as a favor for them." I said helpfully.

The laughter died out eventually, and Chiron studied us for quite some time without saying a word.

I gulped. Maybe this was a bad idea after all. I mean, we can't just fool a thousand year old _teacher_. But to my surprise, Chiron nodded and said finally: "Very well. Please take your seats and the meeting shall begin immediately."

**Ah, I know you have read a lot about a newbie being led around Camp. I hope it didn't bore you out! And about Drew being in charge with Piper away, there's more to come. Please R&R! **

**-Hazel-**


	3. Notice

Notice:

Sorry guys! I can't update this weekend again…Yeah, I feel really sorry too…I had to take part in this "very important" English competence contest so I didn't finish my chapter. I promise I'll have it out next week!

BTW, a Harry Potter fanfic is brewing in our minds again. It is about none other than our favorite Weasley twins! I'm getting excited about it. But regarding how soon our final exams are coming, I don't think we'll start it until February next year (assuming the world isn't already over ;P)

And…I have a little question. We had more than 20 followers for Nico's Double Troubles, but only a few for Light and Shadows. May I ask why? I am pretty bummed and confused by this. :(

I promise we'll try harder! Please R&R!

Anyway, that's all for now. Again, I'm genuinely sorry for not finishing my chapter this week.

Lots of love,

Amber


	4. Chapter 3 Landyn

**Hi. I want to kill myself and I don't want to explain. Kidding...but yeah, since I'm not in such a good mood, I'l just let you read. Hahahahahaha.**

* * *

Chapter 3 Landyn

Camp Half-blood was great. Even better than I had imagined. Will showed us all sorts of amazing stuff. My initial aim of building a hero image of myself was achieved too, kind of. (At least campers gawked, instead of smirked amusedly, at me.) But, I felt that nothing was really right. I couldn't shake off the feeling of June's cold hand on my wrist. Staying with July, who was a replica of June, was no help. _Crap._

Strange what a quest could do to you. I was supposed to love attention. (Hey, I was the star at school.) But now I just wished I was with nobody except for the Loras twins and Nico. I had to avoid eye contact with the campers since my baseball cap was long lost and I hadn't had time to find a replacement yet. The last thing I needed was people finding out about my freaking eyes. During the time when July was out, I spent most of my time in the room, keeping an eye on her, but mostly hiding from the others and allowing my mind to wander free. By the time July finally woke up, several theories of where June and Nico were had formed but none was really convincing. The thought that Nico was most likely with June on one hand reassured me that they were safe. Nico was obviously the most powerful demigod I have or will have ever known. On the other hand, I felt a strange kind of resent whenever I picture them together.

Oh man, I, the great son of the goddess of Love, am for once forgetting my duty to be popular.

All the thinking made my head hurt. The one thing I was certain of was I wasn't going to lay back and rest until I find out June and Nico's location. We couldn't contact them since we don't know where they are, but they should know we're at Camp Half-blood. Nico must have the sense to Iris-message us. If they haven't, that can only mean one thing… they are at a dangerous place. _Or dead_, a nagging voice told me.

When I checked out my new doll house of a cabin, I overheard Drew talk about the counselors' meeting and the satyr's missing. An idea suddenly popped into my mind. I hid my excitement and made up an excuse to escape Drew's constant rambling of her hatred towards this girl Piper. If Drew hated Piper, then I'm fairly sure I'd like to meet this Aphrodite girl who had the guts to go on "the most dangerous quest for demigods".

When I found that July wasn't in Apollo's cabin, I almost panicked. I imagined June's furious face if I had lost July. Thankfully, after a few calls, the blonde haired girl emerged from the stone cabin right next to Apollo's cabin. Rachel the oracle (she was introduced to me earlier) followed. I didn't have time to mull over the weird coincidence. At the risk of Rachel overhearing, I told July my plan.

xxx

So there we were, sitting and listening to the other counselors discussing the problem. Apparently, a satyr named Grover Underwood was missing, for the second time.

"Chiron is in a wheel chair! He can change into a disabled human?" July stared in awe.

"Uh, no. It's just a magic wheel chair that can contain his, uh, horse part when he feels like looking like a human." I answered. While I tried to answer July's questions, the meeting was already on.

"Let's just forget about him." A bulky tall girl in armor said gruffly. "That puny goat is not worth the time. We need to put all efforts preparing camp for the war."

A strangled scream came out from the other side of the table. I looked in that direction and saw a petite girl with tears flowing from her eyes. She looked somewhat elfish. It look me a minute to realize it was because her ears were slightly pointed. The girl wore a simple dark green chiton that went well with her wispy amber hair.

"Her eyes are _green_!" July gasped beside me. "No…she's literally green all over!" She whispered in an awed voice. I couldn't help smiling. July seems to be amazed by nearly everything. Such a cute girl.

"I think she's a tree spirit, a nymph like Camellia." I guessed.

As we were talking in low voices, the "green" girl shouted loudly.

"Grover is not puny, you mean, hateful, ignorant, cruel…"

I had a feeling that she had a lot more derogatory adjectives in store. (Though if I were her, I guess the things coming out of my mouth would be a lot worse than her civilized accusations.) But Chiron cut her off.

"Calm down, Juniper, we know Grover is not puny." He gave a look to the burly girl. "But Clarisse has a point. We can't afford to divided forces now that we are expecting a confliction according to Rachel's vision, especially when our strongest fighters are absent."

"What!" Juniper gasped so dramatically that even I, the master of drama, had to feel impressed. "You can't abandon him! We _need _to find Grover!"

"I think we should find him too. If he isn't here, we're in short of a large number of nature spirit fighters. Plus, Rachel's vision didn't tell when the attack will happen. Maybe we can find Grover before the attack happens." A girl with dark hair said. She reminded me of a stern grandma that still looks her teens.

"Thank you, Katie! I knew you were the best!" Juniper practically sobbed in gratefulness.

Chiron sighed: "Katie's right too. We must weigh the benefits and deflects before making a decision. If Percy were here…" The old horse man stopped, eyebrows tightly knit together. I knew he meant with Percy Jackson here, they would be available to send search teams.

July was watching the meeting in interest, probably guessing how it was going. I caught her eye and gave her a meaningful look. Her light blue eyes narrowed in determination and nodded.

She cleared her throat. "Um, fellow counselors? I have an idea. Why don't I and Landyn here go to search for Grover?"

All the senior campers stared at us. Chiron's eyebrows furrowed even more. Perfect time for Landyn Green the Great Speaker to show up.

"Yes. We are new to this camp and we are more than willing to do something to help especially when times are difficult. We have enough skill and experience to keep us alive out of Camp,"

One of the brothers from Hermes Cabin muttered:" Sure you have. Didn't you come back from Underworld?"

I ignored him and continued: "But we are not familiar with battles or fighting imposers. We would probably be a burden if there should really be a confliction. It would be better for us to search for the very so important Grover out of Camp. It's exactly 'one stone and two birds'. Please allow us."

I spread out my arms in demonstration and looked around the table. Strangely, many of the counselors looked a little uneasy and kept rubbing their eyes. I glanced at July questioningly, but as soon as her eyes met mine, they unfocused for a split moment and after she recovered, she stared at me in confusion too. _Uh-oh. _I wanted to smack myself. It must have been my illusion power. But at the same time, it shouldn't affect July again, or at least she shouldn't seem so surprised. However, Chiron didn't seem fazed. His deep brown eyes pierced me, as if trying to figure me all out.

Luckily, the people started to push aside their confusion and whatever they were mulling over and returned to our proposition.

"Um," Malcolm, the guy from Athena cabin, started. "Logan…"

"It's Landyn." July interrupted quickly. I hated my name sometimes.

"Oh. Okay. My apologies. Anyway, I think Landyn's suggestion is reasonable. It is not perfect, but it may work."

The other counselors nodded in agreement, turning their eyes on Chiron, waiting for a decision.

July looked at Chiron pleadingly and with her big watery blue eyes, probably succeeding.

Chiron finally sighed. "All right. The decision is made. Landyn Green, new recruit from the Aphrodite cabin, and July Loras, new recruit from the Apollo cabin, will go on the search for Grover Underwood, member of the Council of Cloven Elders."

Our faces broke into large smiles and July jumped up, saying: "Thank you! Thank you!"

Everybody stared at us like we're nuts but I didn't care. Hell to their thoughts, we got the chance to find our lost teammates!

Chiron waved his hand tiredly and said: "No need, dear. Well, meeting dismissed. Get a good night's sleep and you'll be off tomorrow. I'll tell you the details of the search then."

All the counselors got up and started to leave, chatting and discussing. Just as I was about to leave too, Chiron called: "Landyn, July, wait for a moment."

I groaned inwardly and stopped my steps. In my experiences, being asked to stay behind by a teacher is never a good thing. The teachers tend to make you clean the blackboard or give you a lecture on how you should be learning, instead of sleeping, in class.

Soon, all the other campers were gone. Chiron wheeled himself in front of us. When he looked at us, his eyes were not piercing anymore, but sad and weary. "Children, I know you want to search for your companions that got separated."

Being called _children_ when I would turn 15 in November didn't suit me that well but I decided to keep my mouth shut. I lowered my eyes and avoided Chiron's gaze. I had to be careful since I didn't know what happened then at the meeting. Maybe my power is going berserk.

Seeing that both of us remained silent, Chiron said: "It is only human nature to search for the lost ones they care about, but it is nearly always futile. I have no knowledge about July's sister, but what I can tell you is Nico di Angelo is captured by Gaea's forces and you will not be able to find him."

July made a sound like she was being strangled. _Captured by Gaea? _Then June is very likely captured too. My hands started to shake.

Chiron's sad eyes now looked like the huge black pit of Tartarus, swallowing me. He continued: "Landyn, I know you were blessed with Aphrodite's power of illusion. That goddess really knows how to invent crazy blessing for her favored children. I know June is an excellent archer and healer even without any training, too. But please, be aware of the risks. Don't try to do more than you can handle. I didn't even want to send you to search for Grover, but alas, there was no other option."

I should be angry that Chiron didn't trust our ability to look for June and Nico, but I knew inside that we wouldn't stand a chance against Gaea's more powerful minions alone. I managed a smile and replied: "Thanks for the advice, old man. We won't do anything rash."

Chiron shook his sadly as if he had heard that many times before and dismissed us. July followed me mutely out of the Big House. It was nearly noon and most campers had just finished their last lesson of the morning, heading back to their cabins to shower, put back things, whatever. We walked towards the cabins too, silently. Finally I had to break the ice: "July? What did I do at the meeting when I was persuading them to let us on the search? Did you see Nico in my face again? Glad you didn't call me Nico like a love-sick girl again."

"No." July said dejectedly, not even picking up the joke. "I saw another guy I've never met before. Black hair, green eyes. I think he's Percy Jackson. Overheard some people mumble his name when it happened."

Normally, July would've been interested and enthusiastic about this weird me-making-people-see-Percy-Jackson thing. But I guess she was still upset about the news Nico was captured.

I said: "That's strange. Percy Jackson is important, of course, but not in a personal way to _everybody. _Why would they all see him in me?"

"Maybe you can make people see who you want them to see."

I considered the thought. I remembered thinking if Percy agreed we could go, everyone would agree too. Maybe July's right. I sucked in a breath. I'm just getting weirder and weirder.

July sniffed and quickly wiped a tear from under her eyes. I softened and put an arm around her thin shoulders, careful not to press her wound: "Cheer up, girl. Your sister and Nico are tough. They must've found a way to survive. We'll find them, no matter what. I promise."

July blinked furiously and nodded.

Suddenly an idea that would definitely lighten us both up popped up. I cursed myself for not realizing it sooner. Unable to sustain my excitement, I said: "You know what? I know just the thing we need."

"And what's that?" July looked at me curiously.

"Iris-messages."

July's face fell. "Oh. But Chiron said it won't work."

I grinned: "Yeah, if we don't know the exact location. But I daresay you remember you home address?"

July's eyes widened so much her blue irises looked like tiny pieces of sky. "Oh my gods, oh my gods, oh my gods! Why haven't I thought of that! Mom must be so worried!"

Suddenly a conch sounded through the valley.

I smile and said: "We'll ask someone for drachmas, but first, lunch. I bet you'll love the pizza."

xxx

After lunch, we went to Percy's cabin with a few drachmas. I didn't know this Jackson guy, but I was sure he wouldn't mind us using his super cool private Iris message fountain. It's the most convenient place to I-M without curious campers poking around. As we stood in front of the stone fountain, sunlight reflected off the water surface and threw strange lights over our faces. I shuddered. I somehow felt nervous to be imposing the son of Poseidon's long-empty cabin. July didn't show any uneasiness though, most likely because she'd been here before. She handed me a gold drachma and said: "You go first."

I shrugged and tossed the drachma into the clear rainbow in the light sprays of water. "O goddess of the rainbow, please accept my offering. Show me Thomas Green, Fragrant Vines wine collectibles store, 5th Avenue, Brooklyn."

"So your dad is a wine merchant? Cool." July raised her eyebrows.

I watched in anticipation as the colors in the rainbow began to shift and suddenly, I was looking at the one of the display stands of a familiar wine shop. A tall man with the same brown hair as me bent over a bottle of red wine, slowly rotating it in his hand.

"D-Dad." I called out, feeling suddenly choked up. July put a sympathetic hand on my shoulder.

My father turned around in surprise. His eyes widened in disbelief as he saw me. "Landyn? Is that you, son? How on earth…"

"Yeah, Dad. But I'm not really there. I'm actually at Camp Half-blood. This is just some sort of ancient Greek video message." I felt so relieved to see my father that I just had to smile.

A woman in the background called: "Tom？Who are you talking to?" Soon a woman with red hair braided to one side appeared in my sight. "My goodness, Landyn! Is that you?"

I laughed at my stepmom's reaction and explained Iris-messages to her again. I had to admit, Emily was the coolest stepmother in the world. She was always funny and cared for me as her own. A lot better than that particular goddess that is constantly only focused on her makeup. She smiled as through her teary eyes and said: "When Steve told us you went to camp, we were so shocked. I knew you had to go to camp one day, but how could you leave without saying anything?"

I apologized and said: "Something urgent came up."

"More urgent than your old man almost having a heart attack when he learned you were gone, huh?" Emily joked.

"Poor Mr. Green!" July laughed.

"Oh right, this is July Loras, my friend. We came to camp together." I introduced.

"I'm sorry for all the trouble I know Landyn would have brought you. But judging how he has all his limbs, thank you for keeping him from harm." Dad smiled warmly.

July blushed: "Not at all, Mr. Green."

"How's Kevin?" I asked. I knew this was a school day so I wouldn't be able to see him.

"He's fine, honey." Emily answered. "You worry like a 50 year old housewife!"

We chatted for some time and July left to "give us some private time."

After she left, I had to speak out the question I've been holding since the meeting. "Dad? If…hypothetically, your friend is missing, probably in a dangerous place, would you…would you go search for him… or her? I mean, even if people warn you not to?"

The cheerful light in Dad's eyes faded a little. He scratched his chin and said: "Well, that's a hard question. But… if that person is really someone you care about a lot, I'm sure it's not your nature to leave it alone. Trust your instinct. You'll be surprised how things always turn out not the way you imagined, but usually correct to what your heart tells you."

"We know you would make the right decision, Landyn." My stepmom said, "Just try to keep yourself safe, all right?"

"Of course. Thanks, Dad. Thanks, Emily." Hearing what they said lifted a huge weight off my heart. As much as I didn't want the Iris message to end, Emily and Dad's faces were becoming blurry.

"I guess time's up, son." Dad called, "I love you!"

"Take care, Landyn!" Emily cried, tears welling up her pretty green eyes.

"I will. Don't worry!" I called back. "Love you too! I'll contact you again soon."

Finally the image faded into the normal rainbow. I stared at it, wishing I could see them again. But I knew it was July's turn.

"July, your turn!" I shouted towards the door that led to the beach. The blonde came running back within a few seconds.

* * *

**So how was it? We really want to know what happened to Grover sooner too, but since the next pov is June's, I guess we'll have to wait until the chapter after the next. Please R&R! Have any ideas on Grover's mysterious missing? Feel welcome to share it with us!**

**-Amber-**


	5. Chapter 4 June

**Hello, dears! The first chapter of 2013! I'm terribly sorry for not posting this last weekend as I should've and not even posting a notice for delay. I was extremely busy. And as you should notice, June and Landyn's povs are both written by me. Since we have only three povs this book, I have to write two chapters in a row each time. It's an exhausting job. **

**2012 ended in extreme bad luck for me, so I hoped 2013 would be better. Unfortunately, the new year just awarded me with a lot of homework, tests and undone work for the magazine I'm editing. Ah…how can I expect this year to be a good one if I had been working like a lunatic when it started? (Really, I stayed up till almost 2 a.m. that day, not celebrating, but working)**

**Anyway, I mustn't hold you back from reading my fantastic work. Enjoy! :)**

**-Amber-**

Chapter 4 June

I ran along the Roman streets, scanning the crowds. No familiar faces of my targets jumped out. I couldn't believe it. How did half a dozen of Greek demigods just disappear? After passing the same armor repair shop for the third time I gave up searching the streets and decided to climb the mountain to get a better view. Soon, I found myself standing near Rome's border line, with Terminus a few yards away. Unfortunately, my lack of directions probably came with a lack of sense for distance. I was obviously way too far up to see more than a speck of a person down in the valley. Dejected, I plopped down, resting my chin on my knees. Why can't I just tell them I'm a Greek demigod so they'll let me go, or wait till I get accepted and find an excuse to get out of camp? How I hoped the problem was so simple. But Apollo had said "conflicts and disruptions" would take place soon. He had warned me to keep secret of my identity. And my instincts told me I'd better escape Camp Jupiter before it's too late. While I was gazing at the sparkling lake snuggled in the valley, scenes of the quest in Underworld flashed before me. The twin giants' laughs rang in my ears. My friends' faces, all bathed in the same eerie red light, floated before my eyes. I subconsciously curled up tighter. Suddenly, I felt someone sit down next to me.

"Hi! You're the new girl, right?" Julia, Terminus' little assistant, asked, her adorable big eyes peering into mine.

I started but recovered quickly. I nodded with a smile. She returned with a large toothy grin.

"What are you doing here?" The young girl asked, pulling out a few daisies from nearby clumps.

I shrugged. "Me? Nothing. Just thinking."

Julia's small nose scrunched up. "I don't like thinking. It makes me dizzy."

A laughed escaped my lips. I realized in a jolt that I hadn't had a real laugh ever since the battle by Phlegethon. The thought reminded me of how close I was to death. I wondered if I knew an axe would be hitting July and Nico would be falling into Tartarus at that time, would I still mull over July and my relationship with Nico. It seems so petty to me now. Now, I'd give any boy to July if it can help her avoid getting hit by an axe. "Thinking makes me dizzy now too." I replied and ruffled Jane's soft hair.

"You look sad, y' know." Jane suddenly said, arranging the daisies into a bundle neatly. "Aren't you happy Jason is back?"

I stared at her. That little figure sensed a lot than I expected. "Well, I don't know about Jason. I've never met him, even though I tried to find him. And…I'm not sad, just…anxious."

Julia looked up blankly at me.

I smiled: "Worried, I mean."

Julia studied me with her childish eyes for a while. Then she put a slender arm around me and said: "They're going to be OK."

"What?" I was stunned. There's no way this little girl knew about all my history.

"Mommy says when people are worried, it's usually about people they love. Like when Mommy gets worried when I get home late from assisting Mr. T."

Unexpectedly, warmth spread through my body to the tips of my fingers. I gently wrapped my arms around Julia and gave her a hug. During all this time in Camp Jupiter and New Rome, no one had actually paid attention to my real feelings. Okay, that means my concealment worked, but still, it was nice to have someone comfort me. Especially if it's a young girl that I can't possibly suspect to be plotting against "the Greek spy".

For some time, I just sat at the top of the hill, basking in the warm sunshine and chatting with Julia about her school, family and how she wanted to be "just like Percy" when she grows up. I taught Julia how to braid her daisies into a bracelet, which made her eyes shine like stars. I hoped the time could just stop there, but a voice, accompanied by familiar hard breathing, broke up our conversation. I looked back, though I already knew who it was.

Bobby's red hair looked like it was dripping flames as he swiped away the sweat on his chubby neck. "June, are you trying to kill me? I almost got caught by Reyna! If she knew I let you wandered off, I'll have to scrub at least a month of the toilets!"

"Sorry." I said as I got up and brushed the grass away from my jeans. "I had a…bad time in the bathroom. And when I came out you were all gone."

Bobby shook his head in disbelief. "I can't believe it! I told Susan to check on you!"

My heart missed a beat. All I thought was, this would be a bad time to get caught…right in front of Julia.

"I'm so sorry." Bobby smiled apologetically at me. "Susan is always so careless. I hope you're all right now."

I secretly let out a breath and replied a little too cheerfully: "Yeah. Of course. Thanks for your concern."

"Come on, I'll take you to Octavian. He should be free now."

I nodded. Hugging Julia for the last time, I started downhill.

xxx

To be truthful, I didn't want to see Octavian now. Octavian would be deciding whether I was friend or foe, while my friends from Camp Half-blood (They don't know me yet, but yes, I'm sure we'll be friends) might be able to send me to July and Landyn. The choice was obvious. But I didn't dare try any more tricks, in fear of patient Bobby, the son of the goddess of harvest and farm, would finally lose it. To my surprise, Bobby led me back to the forum, straight towards the wickedly cool warship.

"Um. We're going to meet Octavian?" I asked uncertainly.

Bobby made a face. "Yes, and he's in that _ship_."

Maybe a ship crew aboard could help me reach Percy. But then, Octavian might be nearby to overhear and decide I'm really a spy. I wondered if I hid in the ship long enough for the Greeks to take off, would they send me directly to Camp Half-blood or drop me back to Camp Jupiter.

Bobby led me to the rope ladder the Greek demigods had used to climb down. "So…I guess we'll have to use this. Uh…do you want to go first?"

By the flustered look on his face, I guessed Bobby was not much of a fan of climbing or height. I nodded and said: "Actually, you can stay down here, if you want. I can handle this alone. No need to trouble you."

Bobby sighed in relief. "Thanks. I'd rather not try my luck on a fragile piece of rope."

I gave him a last reassuring grin and started to make my way up the ladder. Even though the closest I'd ever come across with rope ladders were the ones in kid's playgrounds, I managed not to lose my grip and fall to my death. Before I knew it, I was climbing aboard the Greek vessel. When I stood up at last, my breath left me. Bronze plated hull, neatly lined up crossbows fore and aft, a huge metal dragon figurehead, two ballistae amidships and crates of who-knows-what labeled with words of warning…this trireme was by far the coolest transportation I've ever seen. If you can even consider it a transportation. I walked aimlessly along the deck, admiring everything. Anyone who designed this must be a genius. Suddenly I heard people shouting. I quickly shook off my daze and ventured towards the voices. Reaching the stern quarterdeck I saw two guys there. The one with dark curly hair and an impish grin, who I recognized as one of the Greek demigods, was waving his hand over a seriously complicated looking control board. The other, tall and skinny, had his arms crossed, a look of annoyance settled over his face. For some reasons, a stuffed teddy bear hung at his side. He must be Octavian. Bobby told me he was a descendant of Apollo and was 19 years old. I found it hard to believe. For one thing, he looked much younger. And then, I couldn't really wrap my mind around the concept that his great-great-great-great… grandfather was my_ father_.

I took a step closer and cleared my throat. "Hi, guys."

The two boys both fell silent and turned to stare at me.

The Greek demigod scanned me quickly and suddenly he broke into a large smile. "Come to admire ArgoⅡ or me, the Supreme Commander?" He swept out his arm dramatically and bowed deeply. "How may I help you, my lady? Leo Valdez, son of Hephaestus, at your service."

I chuckled and shook my head. "I'm actually looking for Octavian. You're him, right?" I turned towards the scarecrow guy with straw colored hair. Unfortunately, my relative was quite the opposite of the cheerful Latino elf. As much as I wanted to tell Leo everything and beg him to take me to Camp Half-blood in his super cool ship, I knew it was not exactly plausible.

Octavian narrowed his eyes. "So you're the new girl? What's your name?"

"June. Bobby said I have to be interrogated by you…"

"Yes, yes." Octavian rolled his eyes, "Because our heroic praetors are too busy accompanying our _guests_."

Immediately, I disliked the augur. Leo watched in interest.

Octavian settled himself comfortably in a porch chair nearby and asked in a bored voice without even looking at me: "So, how did you get here?"

"Don't know. I blacked out when I was being chased by a monster and when I woke up I was already here."

"Mm-hmm. Do you know who your parent is?"

"Apollo."

Octavian finally looked up. The look in his eyes was unreadable. Leo, on the other hand, whooped out of nowhere: "Cool! You're daughter of the Sun god? Can you shoot sunlight?"

I tried not to laugh. "Of course not. I can only shoot arrows."

Octavian scowled. I suddenly realized that he was probably sore because he was a distant relative of Apollo instead of a direct one, like me. I started to feel a little sorry for him, despite his arrogant attitude.

Octavian continued: "Did you know anything of demigod camps before you came?"

"Yes. My mom said dad wanted me to go to camp." I lied.

Octavian looked suspicious. "Well, that's strange. Normally _Roman_ demigods are unaware of camp until they are guided to the Wolf House."

I shrugged. "Maybe Apollo doesn't like to go with the traditions."

Leo's eyes darted between us like he was watching a tennis match. I didn't dare look at him, in case I blurt everything out at the sight of someone from Camp Half-blood.

"May I ask what monster did you fight that made you so…beaten up? Tattered clothes, roughly cut hair, a broken knife and many bruises and scars…those are quite a lot of damage for one monster." Octavian's cold blue eyes glittered. He seemed to be more and more intrigued.

"I'm not a really good fighter, as I never had any training. The minotaur and some dracaena were chasing me." My brain was whirring, trying to make up the best lie with the least faults.

Octavian opened his mouth to say something more, but suddenly, there was a loud boom and the ship shook violently. A white flash temporarily blinded me. I staggered and grabbed hold of a nearby mast to keep my balance. Octavian was shaken right off his royal seat.

"What's going on?" The augur asked in frantic, trying to get up, but unsuccessfully. I whirled around, searching for Leo. I was speechless to find him standing next to one of the ballistae, calming aiming a fiery headed spear down at New Rome.

Octavian finally picked his butt off the floor. He screamed as he backed away towards the rope ladder down: "Attack! Treacherous Greeks! They betrayed us! I knew this was going to happen."

I pushed past him roughly—no time for whining and accusing, something was definitely wrong. I refused to believe Leo Valdez was that kind of person. I reached the son of Hephaestus and grabbed his arm just as he was going to fire. Surprisingly, his arm burned against my cold skin. I withdrew my hand quickly. "Leo! What are you doing? Stop!" I dared to steal a glance down in the city. The explosive had blown a new crate in the forum, sending citizens screaming and running.

Leo turned and stared at me. I knew he was definitely not normal when I saw his eyes glittered in a cold golden light. Leo said in sort of a daze: "Kill them all."

"No. Leo, you're being possessed. Or controlled. I don't know. Just stop!" I said, trying to talk some sense into him. I wanted to pull his nimble fingers off the ballistae, but I suspected that Leo's grip on the weapon was all that was preventing the spear from already flying into some poor Roman's home.

Leo's face betrayed no emotions. He freed one hand and held it out towards me. Just as I was wondering whether he was giving up or asking for money, flames erupted from his palm. Heat immediately seared my face. I yelped and backed away. Never did I imagine someone could self-combust without hurting himself.

"Get back. Destroy them all." Leo mumbled, re-aiming the fiery spear with a single hand while flames licked his other hand, which was aimed at me. I glanced behind me. That coward relative of mine wasn't in sight. He must've already escaped.

I gulped and faced the ball of fire in front of me. I tried weakly: "Leo? Please…"

The ball of fire flying out off Leo's palm and straight at me cut me short. I screamed and dove to one side. The fire burned a hole right in the deck. I had absolutely no weapons to use against Leo or protect myself. Looking up to see another fist of flames forming, I decided to give up being a hero. Trying my best to pretend to be invisible, I backed away quickly, following Octavian's suit—heading straight towards the ladder. By the time I reached the ladder, Leo had already hit the city of Rome several more times. Feeling like a failure, I gripped the ropes and started to descend. With the whole ship shaking with explosives and the angry Romans throwing various foods and other random objects towards the ship, my trip down was a lot harder than the trip up. Several feet down from me, Octavian was clinging desperately to the ladder. Apparently, he was not a fan of rope-ladder-climbing, as was Bobby. He was yelling with a red face down at the mob beneath us, no doubt egging them on. Swallowing my annoyance, I concentrated on climbing.

Half way down, the ship boomed so loudly and shook so violently that the ladder swung me around. My feet slipped. I screamed in horror, but the shrill sound was drowned by the din beneath. As I hung desperately on the ropes, I saw Octavian yelling at the blond girl from Camp Half-blood. He was already on the ground. Nobody really paid attention to the ship—or me on the ladder—anymore. They surrounded the Greek demigods who all appeared suddenly in sight. Obviously, angry Romans were a lot more capable of searching for Greeks than I was. I watched Jason, the praetor, and his girlfriend get attacked by angry bricks. Percy Jackson was suppressing the Romans with douses of water from a fountain.

I know…I should have tried to regain my step, as anybody with sense should know. But I was so shocked to see such a huge crowd of teenagers, also occasionally adults, besieging the Greek demigods, who to some extent were my allies. It was so unfair. Also, the Greeks and the Romans are definitely now in war. I was glad I listened to Dad and concealed my identity…otherwise, I'd be attacked now too. Unfortunately, the moment of distraction cost me greatly. Another explosive boomed suddenly. Totally unprepared, I lost my grip. No sound escaped my lips as I tumbled towards the ground. I was paralyzed with fear. Nobody noticed. _I was going to die, for sure. _

The hard ground zoomed towards me in a speed that was way too fast for my liking. I squeezed my eyes shut, bracing myself for the impact. However, instead of being smashed into a grease spot on the Roman's already ruined forum, I landed on something soft and bouncy. Rolling on the surface that cushioned my fall, I tried to open my eyes. When I opened them, I doubted my eyesight. Everything I saw was green. Thankfully, the green surrounding suddenly released me, dumping me onto the ground. I groaned as a hand helped me up.

"Good Gracious! I thought I was going to be too late!" Bobby exclaimed shakily.

I was too stunned to thank him properly. "Bob? How…what…?" I faltered as he pointed behind me. A huge green leafy plant had sprouted from the ground the moment I was about to hit bottom. Now that I was not trampling it, the plant extended its luscious green leaves, basking in the sunlight, oblivious to the chaos around it.

"You…you did that?" I asked incredulously.

Bobby seemed suddenly interested in his sleeves. "Well, yeah, I guess."

I broke into a grateful smile and punched him playfully: "Dear me, son of Ceres, I never knew you had that in you! I owe my life to you!"

Bobby grinned: "Nah. Don't mention it. You have to be more careful. Romans are not so forgiving when it comes to their home getting damaged." His expression darkened. "We will show those _Graecus_ how we tolerate traitors."

I shuddered. If even Bobby made "tolerate" sound so ominous, I'm betting their way of tolerance concerns a lot of pain and agony. I tried to think of a way to consult the Greeks without being targeted by angry Romans. Nothing came up. Bobby started to pull me away from the ship. Due to respect and gratefulness, I couldn't do anything else but follow. As we pushed past the mob, we drew farther and farther from the people I'd been hunting for a whole day.

I had the impulse to break away and climb straight back to the ship and announce myself a Greek. But I was afraid Leo would just blast me out again. Or the Roman would kill me before I get into the ship. Also, I might get Bobby into trouble. Big trouble. I watched the Greek demigods skimmed up the ladder must faster than I could've ever done. A dragon suddenly popped into being, sending Romans into panic. The ship creaked loudly and started to tilt. Too late to turn back. Helplessly, I followed Bobby through the crowd. Around us, kids screamed and threw things everywhere. Satyrs dodged around with their arms loaded with food. A huge guy and a skinny red harpy riding a hellhound bounded away from the forum…wait. A hellhound? The sight reminded me of Nico and July. It hit me with a pang why the hellhound looked familiar. It was Mrs. O'Leary.

"Wait!" I yelled. Forgetting everything, I struggled free and ran after Mrs. O'Leary. Faces and food flashed past me. The hellhound headed towards a huge patch of shadow under the broken Senate House. I poured on speed.

"Mrs. O'Leary!" I screamed. The dog zipped past a startled demigod and leaped into darkness.

"No! No…" I cried, still running towards the shadow where my last hope vanished. Reaching the cool shadow, I staggered through the rubble, tears welling up my eyes. I was forced to believe now I was truly trapped in Roman grounds, with absolutely no help from the Greeks. I pressed my dirty hands to my eyes, feeling sobs racking my body.

**This chapter in fact turned out a lot more dramatic than I intended it to be. With all those excitement and emotions, I hope I didn't wear you out. This week, we'll be staying in school for 8 days straight—for me, 8 whole days away from home. Then comes our final exams, which will last for two weeks for me. **_**Then,**_** after that, finally comes winter vacation. We will have a lot more time for fanfic then. Also, we might be starting a new fanfic about Harry Potter. Or the Kane Chronicles. Not decided yet. (BTW, is there any Kane Chronicles fanfic around here that's not a crossover?)**

**Well, that's all for this time! Adieus! **

**-Amber-**


	6. Chapter 5 July

**My turn, finally! It seemed like ages since I last wrote. I am supposed to be preparing for the final exams, which will take place in about three days. (I know, it seems like we have a LOT of exams. It's the truth. The exams we have to take is twice as many as normal students do.) But yeah, I am sitting here typing chapter 5. I just can't keep myself from it. Haha. So, hope you enjoy!**

**-H-**

Chapter 5 July

Landyn stepped aside and allowed me to stand closer to the fountain, still looking wistfully into the rainbow. I gripped the large gold coin in my hand and bit my lip. The truth was, after I saw how Landyn's parents reacted to his Iris message, I wondered if my mom would be so cheerful too. Unlike Landyn's dad, Mom never remarried. And Landyn still had a little brother back home whereas June and I were the only ones that she got and now we were both gone. Most probably, Mom would be pissed and start yelling. I know she would be more worried than angry but it's still pretty scary. Still, I missed her _so_ bad.

"What are you waiting for?" Landyn prodded me. I glanced at him nervously and got a reassuring nod in return. Bracing myself as best as I could, I threw the drachma into the multi-colored mist. It shimmered and disappeared. I cleared my throat and said loudly: "O goddess of the rainbow, please accept my offering. Show me Adelaide Loras." Then I gave the address of my home.

A messy and cramped art studio that looked more like a room came into sight. My mom was sitting in front of a blank canvas with a brush in her hand. Her hair was tied in a low messy ponytail. There were dirty color streaks on her hands, arms and face. Her face was as blank as the canvas. I heard Landyn say "wow" under his breath.

"Mom." I managed through a tight throat. Normally, I was never allowed to interrupt her when she was working with paint brushes. But I knew she couldn't really paint now. Her heart was somewhere else.

She took no notice that she saw me. But apparently she had heard me.

"Oh dear. Now hallucinating? Aren't bad dreams enough?" My mom threw down her brush and rubbed her eyes tiredly. _She's been having nightmares?! _I thought, struck with guilt.

"Mom!" I called a little louder. "Look over here!"

She tensed instantly and turned around slowly, just like what June did when Nico had Iris messaged her last time. After a second, she finally caught sight of me.

"Oh god. I must have fallen asleep when I was painting!" She muttered, staring at me with wide eyes.

I laughed and assured her: "No, Mom. It's really me."

"But how could you…" She shook her head and murmured in disbelief.

"This is an Iris message. We're not really there…here, whatever. We're at Camp Half-blood." I tried to explain.

"Iris…yes." Mom nodded slowly as if waking up from a dream. Suddenly her tired and weary face changed in to an angry one, brows furrowing so close together that they nearly formed a line.

"So it is you at last! For all this time, why on earth _didn't you call home once_?" She shouted in fury. "Anything could've happened! Reporting missing children is annoying business, don't you know? And why isn't your sister showing her face? Ashamed, I hope? YOU SHOULD BE!"

I winced and glanced at Landyn to make sure he hadn't been scared into running away. He grimaced and then mouthed "ouch".

"Sorry Mom! I wanted to call, I really did. But I couldn't. We were somewhere …that can't receive signal." I couldn't just say "We've just been to Hell", could I?

"Typical excuse." Mom huffed, crossing her arms. "I…I had expected it, though." She said suddenly. I noticed a little quaver in her voice. "When your sister told me about your quest after you went running off with that up-to-no-good kid, I knew it would be dangerous. I was so _worried_."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Mom." I apologized again. I didn't know what else to say.

"Well, at least I see you're in one piece." Mom sighed. "I'm not going to ask about that task though, it'll give me nightmares."

I let out a breath. No more shouting, thank goodness.

"Where's your sister? And that Nico boy?" Mom asked again.

"Um." I stuttered. I had known she would ask and I had thought of a million ways of answering. But now that she really did, I found myself tongue-tied.

"They, uh, they are..." I said feebly.

Landyn suddenly popped up beside me. "They're having Ancient Greek class, Mrs. Loras." Then added after a second's consideration: "We had them in the morning." I threw him a grateful look.

Mom jumped at the sight of him. "So they are…who is he, July? Is he a new friend?" She questioned, eyes narrowing on me.

"Mom, this is Landyn Green. We met him on the task." I explained hastily. "He's been great help, uh, got us out of tight corners a couple of times."

"Why, thank you Landyn." Mom beamed at him. I didn't know how she does it, being so stern with June and me while being so kind and gentle to other kids. Like how she reacted when I brought Nico to her. She must have double personalities.

Landyn flashed her a dazzling smile and replied: "Not at all. I'm really pleased to be able to call myself your daughters' friend."

Just at that time, I realized that the image was getting blurry.

"Hurry up, July. Time's almost up. I leave you to talk with your mom." Landyn said urgently and swiftly walked away.

"I'm sorry, Mom." I said for the third time.

"It's okay, honey. Just try to be safe, ok?" Mom smiled at me, trying to hide her sadness.

"We will, I promise." I assured her. "This kind of message needs money, and we don't have a lot of those, so we won't be messaging you much, ok?"

Mom nodded. "Come home for your birthday, will you?" She said, with a hint of pleading in her voice, which I could barely hear then. I bit my lips and nodded.

"Bye, honey. Love you!" She cried, her image almost disappearing completely.

"Bye." I called. And the image dissolved into mist.

"Love you too." I whispered to the rainbow, feeling emptier than ever. The fountain gurgled happily in the background.

xxx

Landyn was leaning on the wall outside the cabin when I came out.

"Hey, are you alright?" He asked in concern, catching up with me.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I tried my best to sound cheerful. "I hope you weren't scared by my mom."

"Nah. She does have a temper, doesn't she? I can see the resemblance." He teased.

"Ha ha. Thank you." I said rolling my eyes.

"Why don't you go to your cabin, clean up and get a nap?" Landyn said. "You've just recovered and I don't want you to tire yourself."

I nodded. Now that he mentioned it, I did feel pretty tired, even though as far as I remember, I hadn't done much except walking and talking. My shoulder was aching a little again.

"What are you going to do then?" I asked.

"I think I'll go find myself a new weapon." Landyn said casually.

"What?" I said blankly. "What about your gun?"

"Oh right, you don't know yet." He said, sounding heavy all of the sudden. "Well, your sister took it just before we left for camp."

I stared at him, trying to make something out of what he just told me. Why did June take Landyn's gun? Horrible scenes of the shore of Phlegethon bathed in red flashed across my mind. Landyn had told me briefly about what happened after I passed out, but I recall no information about June taking his revolver.

To my surprise, Landyn suddenly stopped in his track and kicked a clump of dirt violently.

He growled in frustration. "It's all my fault! My stupid, unbelievably bad aim! I'm useless-"

"Stop it, Landyn!" I cried in alarm. Some campers on the basketball court turned and looked in our way. Landyn stood with his head hung low and hands balled tightly.

"I couldn't help her. I let her face the giants all by herself." He said in a hollow voice. I stared at him, not knowing what to do. This was the first time I had seen Landyn in such a pained expression. Nico may be the most fearless of us four, but it was Landyn that was the one who was always confident and cheerful.

After a pause, I put my hand tentatively on his arm. "How could it be your fault?" I said softly. "You saved my life. And only you could've done it… Now, you're not regretting saving me, are you? I'm not _that_ worthless." I added, trying to lighten the atmosphere.

"No, that wasn't what I meant." Landyn said lowly. But his fist unclenched. "I wouldn't forgive myself if I let you die either."

"And I didn't die, neither did June. So stop blaming yourself. I think you should get some rest too." I said sternly. He allowed me to lead him back to the Aphrodite cabin.

"Ok, I'm leaving you here. Try not to kill yourself when I'm gone, will you?" I said as we stood in front of the "doll house".

"Sorry." Landyn murmured. "I was being stupid. I was supposed to be cheering you up, not the other way around."

"Come on, we're friends! Of course it can the other way around. Now just get some sleep, ok? I'll see you later." I shoved him into his cabin. He turned around and managed a smile.

"Thanks." He said.

"No prob." I grinned. Then I watched him disappear in pink and laces.

I turned on my heels and headed back to the Apollo cabin, feeling worn than ever. I sure hoped Will had my bed prepared.

As I entered the cabin, I scanned the place. It had huge windows to let in plenty of sunshine. The floor was cool smooth marble which I really liked. Aside from a dozen of bunk beds, every kind of musical instrument were scattered here and there. In a corner, there was a long desk with vials and glass jars of all shapes and sizes on it. Above the desk there were shelves on the wall that had bottles, jars, baskets of herbs and other medicine ingredients. Bows, quivers of different fashion hung on other walls along with numerous dart boards, most of which had photos of people as bull's eye. Other than those, it looked just like a place where a dozen of teenagers live.

I was glad that there weren't much people in the cabin at the moment. I didn't feel like introducing myself or meeting any new half-siblings. All I wanted was a nap.

"Hey, July, back from your camp tour?" Someone said suddenly. I spun around and realized it was a dark haired girl who was reading in one of the bunk beds.

I nodded and asked, wondering how she knew my name: "Yeah. Do you happen to know which bed is mine?"

The girl answered: "As a matter of fact, I do. Your bed is just the one next to mine. I'm Rebecca, by the way."

"Thanks Rebecca." I grinned at her and made my way to the bed.

"I guess you're tired?" Rebecca asked as I slipped into bed. I nodded.

"You should be. That was a nasty scar down your shoulder blade."

"What?" I said in surprise, reaching down my back to feel the scar. It was almost a foot long, starting from my shoulder. I winced. "I didn't know there was a scar. How did you know anyway?"

"I was the one who helped clean you up after you ended up here unconscious." She said.

"Well, thanks." I said awkwardly. But Rebecca was already absorbed in her book again. I sighed and closed my eyes.

xxx

I found myself sitting on a little grass slope in Sunset Park. Nico di Angelo was sitting next to me.

_Nico said nothing. I waited, staring at his face. Under his wind swept black hair, there was a slight crease between his eyebrows. Beneath, his eyes were looking out at the setting sun. They didn't seem black anymore, but dark golden._

The scene shifted and we were suddenly standing in a balcony that looked over Elysium.

_He turned his face up and my eyes meet a pair of mid-night eyes so deep I felt like I fell through it and lost myself. After staring at him idiotically for several seconds, I managed to pull myself out of his gaze and said, trying to act casual: "You're such a baby. Do you still need to hold on to your sister's finger when you cross a road?"_

_Nico gaped at me, apparently wondering why the atmosphere changed suddenly. Then, recovering from surprise, he taunted back: "If I'm a baby, you totally are too! Why, can't sleep because __your__ sister didn't sing you a lullaby?"_

The image dissolved once more and June was suddenly staring at me with cold eyes.

_"I've decided that there is no reason that I have to give him up for you. You don't deserve him." She said calmly._

_My face heated up immediately. I did __not __like how this was going. "What does that mean? I thought…didn't you say…what do you mean, I don't __deserve __him?" I was so angry that I didn't know what to say. "I knew you would regret your decision!"_

_"Well, you and I aren't that much different. I like Nico as much as you do. But you only make him worry, always so careless and troublesome. He will get tired some day, tired of looking after you. Unlike you, I'm so much more helpful in the quest. He needs someone like me, not you." She said in a matter-of-fact tone, lips curling into a cold smile._

I woke up with a start, the unfamiliar indifferent face of my twin still swimming in my head. How did such a good dream turn into a nightmare? I lay in bed motionlessly with June's voice filling my head. I knew it wasn't really her, but the scary thing was, the more I think about it, the more truth I sense in "her" venomous words. It wasn't fair for June. We both liked the son of Hades. And I didn't even know what Nico thought. There was no sign that he liked me. We just had a few private talks. That didn't mean anything. The more I thought about it, the heavier my heart got. _It's hardly the time to think about such things._ I scolded myself._ The only thing you should be concerned about is their safety at the moment. As long as I can have them back with all limbs and right minds, Nico can choose June and I will feel happy for them. _I choke backed a sob and took a deep breath.

I pushed myself up from the bed and looked around. No one was in the cabin. Probably all the other campers were doing afternoon activities. The orange Camp Half-blood T-shirt that I had slept in was all crumpled. Luckily I found my old clothes at the end of my bed, all cleaned and mended. Rebecca probably had done it-I have to thank her later. I took them to the bathroom and started to change. As I pulled the camp T-shirt off, I revealed the scar on my shoulder. It _was_ pretty nasty. It wasn't too jagged or lumpy, but the long, dark red line was still ugly. _Great, permanently marked to remind myself of my stupidity. _Disgusted by the sight, I put my old T-shirt back on quickly.

When I got out of the house, I realized that the sun was a lot lower in the sky than I had last seen it. _How long have I slept?_ I thought and started towards the Aphrodite cabin. When I arrived at the door, I stretched my neck and peered inside. I managed to spot Landyn sleeping by a window with laced curtains.

"Still sleeping?" I muttered under my breath. Just then, I heard a girl's voice behind me.

"You bet he is."

I turned around sharply and found myself staring at curly hair as red as fire. It was Rachel.

"Hi, July. I hope I didn't startle you." She grinned.

"Oh, you sure didn't." I replied, smiling back. "Nice to see you again too, Rachel."

She looked into the Aphrodite cabin too and said: "Your boyfriend barely slept a wink when you were at the infirmary."

"I told you, we are just friends-Buddies, mates, pals, just _not_ boyfriend and girlfriend." I said indignantly. But another part of me was thinking: _He didn't sleep for a whole night because of me? _

"Oh sorry." Rachel laughed. "I forgot. I won't say it again. Don't be mad."

I sighed, regretting a little that I lost temper. "I'm sorry too."

"It's ok." Rachel smiled good-naturedly. Then we decided that it was best to leave Landyn asleep so we turned and walked away from the "doll house".

"You know what?" Rachel said after a second. "I think I know a place that you would like visit. Care to go?"

"What place?" I asked curiously. There was still some time before supper and I had nothing to do. Rachel's proposal sounded interesting.

"Just follow me." She said mysteriously. So I did.

We walked past the 12 cabins of the Olympian gods and into another collection of strange buildings. More cabins, I assumed. I observed a building made of large blocks of stone that had glowing symbols etched on them. Another cabin looked more like an old-fashioned prairie house with mud walls and a rush roof. Rachel kept walking until we were standing in front of a building that was almost entirely black, with walls made of obsidian. A skull hung over the door and the torches on either side burned with emerald flames.

It was the cabin of Hades - the cabin of Nico di Angelo.

I looked at Rachel with wide eyes. She merely nodded.

"He didn't used to come here often when the cabin was just built. A loner, he claims he is. I bet he has a bedroom in Underworld anyway." Rachel said thoughtfully. "But recently he was here more frequently, that is, before he went on that quest with you. Collecting information of the Roman Camp for us, you know. I still don't understand why he didn't tell us that Percy was there. It could have sped things up."

I nodded absent-mindedly.

I walked closer to the building and put a hand on the cold solid wall. The cabin reminded me so much of Nico himself that it hurt.

"He's special to you?" Rachel asked, appearing beside me. I shook my head. But after a second, I nodded. We stood there mutely for a couple of minutes before I drew back my hand and turned to walk away from the building. Rachel followed suit.

We walked in silence on the out skirts of the forest for a few seconds and I decided it was rude if I didn't pick up a conversation with Rachel. She was trying to be nice to me, after all. If I wanted to mourn over the life or death of some certain people, I could visit the cabin again alone some time later.

"So, uh, why don't you tell me something about the Roman camp, Rachel?" I forced myself to ask.

Rachel seemed glad to have something to talk about.

"Well, we knew nothing about the Roman camp until Jason, a son of Jupiter, came here several months ago. Boy, it was a shock." She said. "We, I mean the campers here, had always thought Camp Half-blood was the only camp for demigods. It never occurred to us that would be two camps existed at the same time, respectively worshiping the Greek and Roman aspects of the gods…"

I was silent when I listened to her explain. Then suddenly, a phrase stood out in my mind-_two camps._ Landyn had got me and himself transferred to Camp Half-blood when it was clear we were going to fail the battle on the shore of Phlegethon. June was supposed to be transferred to Camp too right after we did. Maybe June did smash her pearl…An idea hit me like a tsunami.

_Oh Hades curse me. Why hadn't I thought of it before! _I swore under my breath.

"What?" Rachel asked, apparently confused.

"Oh nothing." I said in a hurry. "Thanks for telling me about the Roman camp. Uh, something urgent camp up. See you later!"

I didn't wait for Rachel to respond before I turned and ran towards the Aphrodite cabin.

"Landyn! LANDYN!" I shouted. I was bursting to tell him: _What if June had transferred to camp, but the wrong one?_

**Sorry to let you down, those who had expected to hear some news about Grover! I promise, no, I swear on River Styx, you'll hear about him in the next chapter. Actually, I have been thinking about his disappearance for quite a long period of time. And with the help of 'Crystal di Angelo', we finally settled it today. **

**So, not much action in this chap. I hope I didn't bore you. ****Please R&R!**

**-Hazel-**


	7. Chapter 6 Landyn

**I'm so sorry that I postponed this chapter **_**again. **_**But not many of you are really waiting for it anyway, right? (Oh it kills me to say that, but it's sort of the truth as we have so few followers.) I had a terrible time with my final exams last week. I was ruined, practically. I couldn't believe I had done so bad. I had the WORST grades I have ever got in my whole life. **

**Anyway, we're on our winter break now. It will last till February 17****th****. I know I said we'd write more frequently now, but I guess that won't work anymore. We're actually at our grandparents' now, and the house has no Internet signal. We have to go on some sort of "Internet pub" to go on the .**

**Ah, I've blabbed long enough. Enjoy the chapter.**

**-Amber-**

**Disclaimer: The concept and anything familiar belongs to Rick.**

Chapter 6 Landyn

The Iris message to my Dad and Emily boosted my spirits. More than that, my long, blissfully dreamless afternoon nap brought me back to who I was. I had almost forgotten how a nice sleep without watching over a sick person could do to me. After I woke up in my cabin, the pink in my eyes sent me into hyper mode immediately. I leapt out of bed and ran out of the cabin as fast as I can. As I burst into the fading sunlight, I let out my breath. Nowhere can make this guy so eager to run out that he'd forget to brush his hair than a Barbie doll house.

Looking around, I saw campers finishing up the last bit of their afternoon activities. Dinner must be around the corner, but there's still time for one last thing. I decided to go look for Juniper. Before heading into the woods, I peeked into Apollo's cabin. Empty. July must've already got up. Having no time to look for her, I got the whereabouts of Juniper's tree from a nearby camper and left.

The woods were a breathtaking place. Though I had a vague memory of Drew telling me how dangerous it was when she was forced to give me a tour, I didn't feel uneasy at all. The trees were thick and leafy, casting great cool shades over the ground. Instead of the usual laughter or talking of humans, all I could hear was rustles of the wind and occasionally some animal howling. It wasn't easy to find the dryad's juniper tree in the woods, but the camper's instructions were very clear. I followed the landmarks he pointed out and finally I came to a clearing with a large pile of stone rubble with broken swords sticking out in the middle. Drew told me about this place—Zeus' Fist. The battle field of the battle of the Labyrinth, which took place about two years ago and cost a great deal of death. I shuddered. No wonder not many campers came by nowadays. I could imagine the blood of fallen demigods staining the ground. I shook away the creepy thoughts and scanned the edge of the clearing quickly. I realized I didn't know what a juniper tree was supposed to look like, even though the camper said it was around here.

Tentatively, I called out: "Juniper? Are you there?" Trees rustled. I held my breath and waited but nothing came. I resisted the urge to call out "Here, little tree. Good, little tree."

I tried again: "Miss Juniper? May have the honor of your presence?"

The wind slipped through the woods like a soft laughter. Finally the dryad melted out of a tree (so _that _was what a juniper tree looked like, I made a mental memo). She didn't look very well. Whereas she looked energetic (or hysterical) earlier today when we met, she now looked defeated. Rubbing her green tinted eyes tiredly, she said: "Mm, the new Love Goddess' son, right? Thanks for what you did at the meeting."

"No, no. I just did what was right. We can't let the Lord of the Wild be overlooked, right?" I said, somehow involuntarily softening my voice. Juniper looked like a brittle twig in winter—one snap would finish her.

"Of course! Grover is very powerful! You should have seen him at the battle of the Labyrinth! He has the real blessing of the great god Pan!" Juniper's eyes sparked.

Before Juniper could rattle off every single good thing of her boyfriend, I cut in gently: "No doubt. That's why we must search for him, and why I'm here now."

Juniper blushed green. "I'm sorry I got carried away. Is there anything I can do for you?"

I asked formally: "I heard you have some kind of clue of where to start our search."

Juniper nodded: "I got a message this morning." Taking out a sheet of leaf out of her pocket, she continued: "One of my friends told me she saw Grover some time ago at Central Park."

"Central Park? And when was that?"

Juniper shook her head in an ashamed kind of way: "Oak doesn't know. She…we, we're not that sensitive to time. She thinks it could have been a few days ago or…a few months…"

"What!" I couldn't help crying out. If the dryad Oak's clue was from months ago, it would most likely lead to nowhere.

Juniper replied hurriedly: "That was exaggerating! We lost contact of him a few weeks ago, so Oak's witness can't be more than longer that."

"Oh thank gods." I let out a breath. "So we should be paying Oak a visit to collect facts?"

Juniper nodded. "Yes. She couldn't tell me much because our leaf message is quite limited."

"All right then. We'll go to Central Park first thing."

Juniper smiled gratefully and said: "Good luck on the search. I can't say how much I thank you."

I flashed her my trademark grin and reassured: "I must thank you too, for such a valuable clue."

"Please…please try your best to bring him back, will you?" Clear green tears welled up Juniper's pretty eyes.

"No worries, Juniper. I'll personally make sure of that." I said confidently. In the inside I felt like someone sucker-punched me. I was going to go on search for someone's boyfriend while I had no idea where _my_ friend was.

xxx

By the time I climbed the hill where the mess hall (if you can call a pavilion without walls or a roof a hall) was, the sun was already half sunken into the sea, like a drop of blood in the water. The campers were already sitting around the stone picnic tables. I found my way to the Aphrodite table. Our table was considerably nicely crowded compared to some others. Poseidon's table, the one at the edge, with the best view of the ocean, was empty. So was Zeus', Hades' and Artemis'. There was nothing so sad about Zeus' and Artemis' but the other two reminded me of campers away. Nico's table was made of those black stone we saw in the Underworld, reminding me painfully how he was now literally in the deepest level of hell, according to Chiron.

I noticed somehow everybody seemed more restless and excited than usual. Lacy, one of my nicer half siblings, moved and made space for me.

"Where were you? We aren't supposed to be late for dinner." Lacy whispered, "Or Drew would make you do cleaning patrol. Oh, and something has ha…"

Right on cue, the Asian girl materialized next to me. "Green, you missed the offer burning! Care to make up an excuse of why you were late?"

I sighed. I had enough things in my hands to worry about. Drew was nothing to me. "Back off, Drew. Contempt makes your face so unbearable to look at."

Drew's face then did looked unbearable to look at. "Wha…How, how _dare_…"

"He state the truth?" Someone suddenly finished her sentence for her. I looked up in surprise and saw July standing over me. Her eyes were unnaturally bright, her face flushed.

I could feel the stare of other campers on us. "Hey, we're not supposed to change tables, you know?"

July waved me off impatiently and pushed Drew, who was angrily starting to retort, away. "But this is really, really urgent."

I looked in her eyes and it dawned on me. My throat tightened so much that I could barely get the words out. I beckoned her closer and asked quietly: "You found out where June is?" I hoped the din of campers having dinner could prevent any eavesdroppers.

"Ever so good at reading people, Lanydn. Yes!" July squealed excitedly.

"Where?" I asked immediately. I realized I was gripping my spoon way too tightly. I released it quickly and flexed my fingers.

July's excitement faded a little. "You know, when you were not here, something happened."

I glanced at Lacy. She nodded solemnly. She was going to tell me about it before Drew butted in.

"A hellhound with a Cyclops and a harpy on its back shadow traveled here." July told me seriously.

I blinked. It may sound like a dangerous but hilarious group of attackers to one demigod, but this was Camp Half-blood. We could handle this. "So? Is that the attack we're expecting?" I asked uncertainly.

"No. It was Mrs. O'Leary."

"What? Mrs. O' Leary? You mean Nico's, I mean, Percy Jackson's hellhound? The one you…"

July smiled sadly, "Yes, the one I was with in Sunset Park with Nico. The Cyclops seemed to be Percy's half-brother."

"What did that mean? Did Mrs. O'Leary bring any news?"

"They're in meeting with Chiron now."

"And what about June?" My fist tightened again.

July gulped. "I think...I think my sister's at Camp Jupiter."

Words failed me. I didn't realize that I had stood up until I looked around and saw everyone gapping at me.

I plopped down immediately and lowered my voice: "How did you know?"

"The only way June could've escaped river Phlegethon without…without Nico was using the pearl." July said. I knew she had trouble admitting Nico hadn't manage to escape himself. I also knew she deliberately left out the possibility that June hadn't either.

She continued: "Maybe when she transferred, she didn't state the location clearly enough. So she did get sent to a camp. But just not this one."

I stared at her, drinking in her words.

"Simple, isn't it? I think Camp Jupiter would be specific enough for an Iris message." July's eyes glittered in hope.

I couldn't say anything but grin and nod. Now, that's what I call a real clue.

xxx

After dinner was dissembled, we borrowed another drachma from July's cabin counselor and headed straight for Percy's fountain. Within the matter of seconds, we were both standing in the dimly lit cabin, in front of the fountain. The crystal clear moonlight shining through the window was definitely not as efficient in creating rainbows as sunlight, but still, a light brush of colors floated in the mist.

"Ready?" July asked, rubbing the drachma nervously. Her eyes looked more of a indigo color than their usual light blue.

I nodded encouragingly. July drew a shaky breath and tossed the drachma into the rainbow: "O goddess of the rainbow, please accept my offering. Show me June Loras, Camp Jupiter."

July's hand suddenly closed around my wrist. I jumped. Her hand was cold and firm, almost exactly like June's when she trusted her sister's safety to me. I looked at her and saw all the worry, anticipation and fear in her eyes. Together, we held our breath and waited for the image to form.

In the silvery mist, the rainbow slowly took image of a sort of arena, like the kind of Roman amphitheater, with hundreds of seats surrounding so everybody can see you get beaten up. The building had a weathered and ancient look, as if it was transported straight from the original Rome, only bright glaring lights shone from above. We were bewildered, silently waiting the picture to become clearer. Finally, the image zoomed in on a familiar slight figure with her back towards us. Even though she was wearing a new purple shirt and strange-looking armor; even though her once beautiful long hair was now jaggedly cut shoulder-length, I still knew the instant she came into focus that she was our June Loras.

"J-June?" July choked. She let go of my wrist and reached towards the image uncertainly.

June stiffened visibly. She looked back. Then everything happened so fast we had absolutely no time to react. June's sky blues eyes widened in surprise which turned into horror immediately. Before we could say anything, she ended the Iris message with one quick swipe of her hand, leaving us in the darkness of Percy Jackson's cabin.

For several minutes, we just stood there, shellshocked. Every detail of the fleeting sight of the girl I'd been thinking of ever since we'd met came to me as clearly as photographs. She was no longer the girl I lead into Sunset Park. There were dark circles under her pretty eyes. Then add in her chopped hair and various bruises and scars, she'd become a rough survivor who had seen too much for her good. My heart felt like it was being teared into a million pieces as the short Iris message kept replaying in my mind's eye.

Finally, July broke the spell. "She...she...We shouldn't have made that message."

I knew what she meant. The only reasonable explanation for June's immediate ending of the message was that she had company that she didn't trust to see us. "Yeah, it was thoughtless.

We might have got her into trouble."

"But...but," July's voice dropped into a mere whisper, tears spilling out at last. "I wanted to see her so bad. I had to confirm my presumption."

I put my arm around her shoulders and gave her a little squeeze. "I know, I know. So did I."

"Hope we didn't really get her into trouble." July said thickly.

I smiled: "Of course not. Even if we did, your sis would make up a ridiculous cover-up story for the incident within seconds! She can take care of herself. Don't worry. Now, let's get out of here. I don't think we should trespass Percy's private territory any longer."

July agreed miserably and followed me out. Once we got out, I realized we must have missed out something important. Campers were gathering in the opening in the middle of the cabins. People were talking and chatting in groups, occasionally calling out to other groups, as if passing on information. I exchanged a look with July and we parted and ran towards our cabin mates quickly.

"Hey, what's up?" I asked as soon as I reached where most of my half brothers were standing.

Josh, the guy whose bunk bed was next to mine, replied seriously: "You haven't heard? Whoa, could you miss anything more important, man?"

"Just tell me what happened!" I urged impatiently.

"There's saying that Romans are going to war on us!"

"What?" I thought I heard wrong.

"Someone heard Tyson, you know, the Cyclops, Percy's half brother, tell Chiron that Leo and the others messed up. Something about they started attacking New Rome and now are escaping on Argo II . The Romans were pissed and declared war on us."

I felt the ground spin beneath me. Greeks and Romans at war? I could only note the point that June was now in Camp Jupiter. A single Greek in the midst of hostile Romans. Now I understand her look of horror.

xxx

The next morning at breakfast, Chiron announced the news of the Roman's declaration of war. He ordered that we now prepare negotiation and war on both hands. The grave look on the old horse-man's face was enough to make even the noisiest Hermes' kid shut up.

"But we still have to look for Grover, right? He is meant to be found! We need him if we want to stand against the Romans!" Juniper materialized behind Chiron, rambling off, even though I suspect she knew nothing about Romans.

Chiron sighed in surrender and said: "Yes, yes, my dear Juniper. We won't let Grover be lost to the world."

He trotted over to us after breakfast broke up and handed us each a canteen of nectar and a Ziploc bag of ambrosia to add to our backpack of questing useful trinkets. I bet while I was having quite a hard time getting all I needed from the pile of makeup in the doll house of a demigod cabin last night, July's responsible cabin mates was showering her with all kinds of cool Apollo weapons and tools. Chiron patted us in a blessing sort of way and said: "Take care, demigods. Never let your guard down and don't do reckless things. Also, return to camp the instant I call you to. We never know what might happen."

Just as we were about to leave, Rachel came running over. "Wait!" She called breathlessly. We stopped our tracks. Rachel's bright green eyes flashed worriedly as she told us: "I had a vision about your journey. I think you'd better avoid underground parking lots and abandoned building sites."

"Why? What did you see exactly?" July asked in confusion. "It doesn't seem like Grover would be kidnapped into a parking lot. That sounds too like a cheap action movie."

Rachel shook her head. "I don't know. The vision wasn't really clear. Just be more careful near those places, Okay?"

We promised her we wouldn't and she ran off as quickly as she came after hugging July one last good-bye.

On that happy note, we boarded Argus the secure-guard-with-a-hundred-eyes' van and set off.

**How do you think? I know this chapter is a little short and I must admit it isn't one of my better chapters. We've stated a couple of times before that we may be starting a Harry Potter or Kane Chronicles fanfic soon, but I regret to tell you, that might not be happening. I figure out we can't spare anymore time to write two fanfics at the same time, plus, an idea of a totally original story is forming in our minds. Compare to fanfic, which is not that original and requires punctuality once we post the first chapter on , a original story has more appeal to us. Sorry for the false hope we gave you, if any of you really did hope to see more of our works.**

**I find myself quite voluble today. Enough for my useless ramblings. Please remember to REVIEW!**

**-A-**


	8. Chapter 7 June

**Greetings, my friend! A chapter posted right on time at last! I apologize for being late for the last few chapters. Well this chapter was done within two days. I'm proud of myself. I finally reached my old standards. **

**Another thing, in the last chapter, I wrote about June being in an "amphitheater". Yes, I know in the map of Camp Jupiter, there wasn't anything like that, but it seems that there was no place for sword practice and lessons so I had to make up a place. How can a demigod camp not have a practice area, right? **

**This is a long chapter, which you haven't seen from us for a long time, so I won't dawdle any longer…enjoy Chapter 7!**

**-Amber-**

**Disclaimer: Yeah, I **_**wish**_**. All credit goes to Mr. Riordan.**

Chapter 7 June

I was miserable. Though I tried to hide it, it was too tiring to pretend any longer after a whole day of emotion rollercoaster. Bobby noticed apparently, judging from the concerned looks he threw me during dinner.

All the campers returned to the camp forts from New Rome for dinner, because the praetor had something important to announce. I was included, as well. I guess Octavian had no other excuse to convict me as a spy after I was "abandoned" by the Greeks and his killing of a teddy bear didn't show him the signs he wanted. I didn't really want to go to camp, for the obvious reason that New Rome was _a lot _less armed than Camp Jupiter. But at least I got to get my magic pin and Landyn's pistol back from Terminus. When Bobby asked about the weapons, I told him the pin was a gift while the gun was a battle spoil. It seemed fishy, but Bobby let it go.

The atmosphere in the mess hall during dinner was obviously tense. Everyone, even the nicest campers, wore a solemn, even angry, expression, whispering to each other a lot about the _Graecus. _I poked my food around, having not much appetite and mainly waiting for Reyna to announce war on the Greeks and oh, _by the way,_ finish the last of the procedures to let me into Camp Jupiter as a camper. When most of dinner was finished, Reyna stood up and barked an order: "Assemble outside the mess hall!"

Instantly, all campers dropped their food and stood up. Uniformly, they made their way around the low couches and tables and out of the hall, forming into neat ranks.

"Go stand at the side of the ranks." Bobby whispered, before pushing me towards the first rank and hurrying to the end of the last ranks.

I stood, a little away from the square the Romans formed, trying my best to feel not so self-conscious. In front of the ranks, on the steps of the mess hall, Reyna was speaking, her dark eyes flashing stormily, radiating power and confidence.

"Before the arrival of Neptune's son Percy Jackson, we live unawares to the existence of another branch of demigods. Today, we prepared ourselves for the prospect of the first union of Romans and Greeks for decades. But good fortune falls short. Argo II attacked." Reyna said gravely.

"They planned this! Treachery!" Octavian, who was standing in front of the crowd but some distance away from Reyna, interrupted.

"We _don't know_" Reyna glared pointedly at the Augur, "whether it was a scheme of our newly appointed praetor Percy, or a plot of Camp Half-blood, unaware to him. But..."

Octavian spoke up again: "That doesn't matter. What matters is that Leo Valdez, of Camp Half-blood, attacked us with that monster of a ship, and all the Greeks escaped afterwards. Oh, forgot to mention," he continued with an evil glint in his eyes, "There were turncoats. Frank Zhang and Hazel Levesque, from Cohort Five..."

There was uproar from the crowd directed towards the last few ranks, where the members of Fifth Cohort assembled. I felt sorry for them. Bobby and Susan and the others were a nice lot.

"And of course," Octavian raised his voice to be heard, "Jason Grace, our old praetor, also chose to go with the enemies."

The campers all quieted down a little. While they were outraged by the "betrayal" of Frank and Hazel, they felt more disappointed and let down by Jason's leaving. As I recollect, Jason had been their hero, leading them through the hard times of the Titan war. I knew none of them wanted to believe Jason left, but the reality was that. Nico had told us about his doubts about how Camp Half-blood's plan would go wrong. I wished his prediction wouldn't have been so accurate. Now, there was no apparent way to cease the anger of the Romans.

Reyna called out: "Silence!" The strict rules of Camp Jupiter and also the terrible look on their praetor's face shut the campers up immediately.

Reyna glared around and continued after confirming everyone was quiet: "All the truth and facts behind this disaster are not clear, but we cannot allow those who disvalue our trust and hurt our city to walk away."

The mass of people were so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

"Brace yourselves, defenders of Great Rome, as it is time to avenge." Reyna finished her speech calmly. The campers erupted into roars and shouts, calling out all kinds of Latin, most likely more curses on Camp Half-blood. Octavian smiled contently in the midst of chaos, obviously happy about how well everything went his way.

"Senate meeting tomorrow morning at eight. No one is to be late. We'll discuss the deployment and main plan." Reyna waved her hand so as to dismiss the crowd. People started to leave their ranks. I suddenly remembered I wasn't introduced and accepted yet so I hurriedly took a step closer to the praetor and raised my hand: "Rey..um, I mean, Praetor? You haven't..."

I pointed at myself as Reyna turned towards me with a confused expression. After a pause, she finally remembered me and ordered the ranks to reform. "I forgot another important thing. The new recruit."

The teenagers grumbled and some of those next to me shoot me annoyed glances. It seems that war times are not good times for recruits.

Reyna beckoned me forward and laid a hand on my shoulder. "This is June Loras, daughter of Apollo, arrived in camp yesterday afternoon. Octavian? The results of your interrogation and augury?"

My scrawny distant relative stepped up and announced, somehow reluctantly: "All is well. There is no reason to reject her."

Reyna nodded in satisfactory: "Good, then who is willing to stand for her?"

"What?" I couldn't help asking. What kind of question is that? Nobody answered me.

"I will." To my surprise, Bobby stood out of his rank and said loudly. "I am willing to stand for June Loras."

Reyna raised her eyebrows but continued the procedure: "Very well. Dakota, centurion of the Fifth Cohort, are you willing to let this new recruit in your cohort?"

Dakota grinned his red stained grin: "Sure. She's a nice kid and we are short on members now anyway."

"So that's settled. You're dismissed." Reyna sounded genuinely relieved. It must have been a long day for her. The dark haired praetor handed me a necklace with a little metal plate strung on it: "Welcome to Camp Jupiter, even though it isn't in a very good state now. Bobby will show you everything. I hope you'll come to like it here. We all did." I thought I glimpsed something like sadness beneath the strong face Reyna pulled. She must know more of the truth behind everything to be blinded by the surface of events. Poor Reyna, I thought as I watched her lonely silhouette vanish into darkness towards the Praetor house. Her position was similar to mine. We both had things we couldn't talk about. I looked at the plate. It bore my name and the letters _S.P.Q.R._

"It's your probation plate." Bobby's voice appeared behind me. I shook away my sentimental thoughts and put on a smile for his sake. "Only after a year of service without any serious problems, will you gain the status of a real Roman soldier. You can speed up the process if you've done something extremely important. Then you can get your tattoo." He showed me a burn mark like tattoo on the inner side of his forearm. Though I'd noticed before, it was my first close look. It bore the same letters _S.P.Q.R. _and a symbol of a stalk of grain and a reaper. I assumed it represented Bobby's identity as a legionnaire of Camp Jupiter and a son of Ceres. There were also five bars under the letters, which Bobby pointed out as marks of his five service years.

I groaned: "Probation? And then a _burn _mark? Why is everything so harsh for Romans?"

Bobby smiled: "Get used to it. Come on. We still have a night to get you used to Camp Jupiter."

"Yeah, I can't wait to learn all the rules and regulations and stuff."

"No sarcasm, June. This is serious business. If you do something wrong, I die with you."

"Really? That's what 'stand for me' means?"

"Yes, so show me some credit."

"Right, sir."

xxx

After going through a series of tough debates with himself, Bobby finally decided to take me to the sword practice amphitheater to show me some basic Roman fighting techniques because "war is upon us". Though I protested that I could shoot just fine with both my bow and the gun, he insisted it was only proper for a Roman soldier to at least know how to _use _a _gla__dius_. Bobby seemed to lack confidence in his sword skills so he called on Susan to help. Together, we headed towards the practice amphitheater.

The building was magnificent. It looked like one of those real architecture relics from Rome, Italy. Mom had once promised to take July and me on an extensive Europe tour so we could see all those famous world heritages...but that was before she lost her job. The only thing out of place was the glaring lights in the amphitheater that was already all open though the sun hadn't set completely.

Bobby and Susan helped me into some rusty old armor and found me the lightest _gla__d__ius, _a Roman sword, from the storage room. All the things were strange and unfamiliar in my hands. Bobby promised to take me to the armor and weapon shops in New Rome to buy my own set. After everything was set, Susan got a _gla__d__ius _herself and started telling me about the Roman ways of offense. I never imagined sword fighting could have so much to learn about, but now my head was bursting with all the must-do and mustn't-dos Susan taught me. _Offense is the best defense, _my instructor emphasized.

When she showed me all the moves and encouraged me to try, I kept getting things wrong. While Susan blocked attacks and immediately turned to stab, I tend to duck and slice from the side. After several attempts, Susan couldn't help exclaim: "Are you afraid of the blade? Why do you always avoid it? Romans never back away from straight on conflicts."

Her words suddenly inspired me. I wasn't afraid of the blade. I wasn't avoiding the attacks. I was just defending myself in a more trickery way. I was fighting the way I was born to—Greek style. Though I've never been trained to swordfight, I must've picked up the Greek way from all the times I've watched Nico fight with his Stygian Iron sword. I smiled slightly at the thought, but I can't keep on fighting like this. Even if Bobby and Susan didn't notice, other Romans would some day.

I apologized and we tried again. This time, I tried my best to fight my instincts and stood my ground, no more ducking—offense as defense. Though I was disarmed easily, but Susan nodded approvingly: "That's more like it."

Bobby congratulated me and I started to reply, but suddenly, I froze. A strange feeling washed over me. The back of my neck tingled, as if someone was staring at me from behind. Bobby and Susan frowned at me, asking: "June? Is something wrong?"

But I didn't hear them. The same time they spoke, a voice, much, much smaller than theirs, but so very familiar, called out my name. I whirled around.

There they were. The two faces that haunted me every second since I woke up in the infirmary room. But I wasn't so stupid that I lost my senses. With one quick swipe, I wiped the forming Iris message away.

I turned around with a casual expression masking my face just as Bobby and Susan were coming up to me.

"Hey, what were you doing?" Susan asked, eyeing the patch in the air where the Iris message was less than a minute ago.

"It was nothing. I thought I heard some kind of insect. But it turns out that I was wrong." I shrugged. "I _am _kind of tired, you know. My ears tend to buzz when I'm exhausted. I should've guessed."

Susan nodded uncertainly. She sheathed her sword and clapped my back: "Ok, if that's the case. Let's call it a night. You've improved a great deal. You deserve a good night's sleep. Even though our barracks are separated from the others and right beside the stables, they're still pretty comfy." With one last smile, she headed towards the exit.

I let out a breath. That was close. An image of two people floating in the air was pretty hard to miss, but then, it _was _just forming and blurry. I sheathed my borrowed _gladius_ too and beckoned Bobby: "Come on. My limbs are falling apart. A shower and a soft bed is all I want now."

Bobby followed me without a word. My heart missed a beat when I met his eyes. They were uncertain and doubtful. He suspected. I waited for him to start accusing me, but he didn't. He just passed me and led the way towards the barracks. Watching his sweat plastered red hair, I felt guilty. All the time, Bobby had been a real friend, genuinely trying to help me around. He even saved me from falling to my death and volunteered to stand for me. But I was lying to him. I brought him nothing but trouble. For a second I almost ran up to him and told him everything, but I bit my lips and remained silent. I never thought I could hold so many emotions in me. It was too much. My chest hurt from all the things I had to hold in.

After Bobby made sure my new roommates would get me settled properly in the girls' barrack of the Fifth Cohort, he left with a goodbye as concise as you can get. The only person in Camp Jupiter that was actually concerned about me was now mad at me. It couldn't get worse.

I showered as quickly as I could and went to bed early. I considered putting my pin and Landyn's gun in my bedside drawer. But in the end, I went to bed with the pin still secured in my hair and the gun slipped under my pillow. I didn't fancy my roommates seeing the gun. It would just raise more questions. But the revolver was not something so easily concealed. I could only hope no one would be nearby to see it until I get to weapon shop in New Rome. After that, I could just say I bought it.

Since it was so early, the lights were still on and the others in the barrack were still chatting, surfing the net or reading. I closed my eyes and pretended to be asleep. My body fell asleep the minute my head touched the pillow but my head was still overrun by thoughts. I tried to convince my brain to rest. It was no use. The smell from the nearby stables and compost pile was not helping. Also, he noise was too loud and more importantly I kept thinking of what happened at the amphitheater.

I was positive it was an Iris message from July and Landyn. Though the image was hard to see under the over bright lights in the amphitheater, I could still discern their faces. They looked so eager to see me. And they looked like they were in good condition. I wanted to laugh about my ridiculous worries before. Of course they would be fine. They were at Camp Half-blood, which was the safest place for Greek demigods. I wished I could speak to them. But that was unrealistic. I didn't know how to Iris message (I cursed myself for never asking July or Nico how to do it). Even if they Iris message me again, there would still be Romans to see it. And the Romans would never let me go after that. It would be almost a solid proof that I was a spy for Camp Half-blood. _As Bobby now sees me, _I remembered bitterly.

July or Landyn must've guessed I was transferred to Camp Jupiter by mistake. And now they've confirmed their guess. But did they know about Nico di Angelo? Did they know he fell into Tartarus…which was my fault? Tears stung my eyelids again as I reviewed once again the complete battle at the shore of Phlegethon in my mind's eye.

I recoiled to find my hand had reached under the pillow and gripped Landyn's gun. As my fingers curled around the cool metal trigger, the familiar feel calmed me down. I had to believe I would be able to give the gun back to Landyn myself, and thank him for keeping his promise of saving July. I imagined his playful grin, as if mocking me for dramatizing everything. With all the memories of the good times of our quest, I slowly drifted to sleep.

I dreamed I was in Camp Half-blood. Though I've never seen it myself, I recognized the place immediately from Nico's accurate description. It was night and the valley was dark but for the glow from the lava climbing wall and some green fire burning around a Greek styled building made of black stone in the midst of weird cabins. _The camper's cabins_, I guessed. There was another source of light. Lines of soft light peaked through the slits of the closed curtains of one of the simpler cabins—cabin 5. In fact, the whole cabin glowed faintly gold. With I smile, I knew this was where I really belonged—the cabin of Apollo, in Camp Half-blood. In the dream, I glided right through the solid door and into the cabin. Inside the cabin, little nightlights shone merrily at every bed side. Apparently, the phobia of darkness is a distinguished trait for children of Apollo. On the end of the girl's row of bunk beds, in the last bed, right under one of the huge windows, lay my twin sister. I didn't even have to see her face. I recognized her just by the figure under the covers. She had always liked to sleep curled in a ball. I felt happy and content for her. The cabin was fabulous. Her roommates looked all very nice and easy-going. She was definitely in good hands.

Then, I was swept out of the Apollo cabin and into an over-sized Barbie house. At least that was what I thought it was. In this cabin, everything was neat and pretty. On the boys side of beds, someone wasn't asleep as he should have been. Landyn sat on his bed, which was also next to the window, with his arms around his knees. His brown hair was tousled and his eyes vacant. As I drew closer to him, I saw he was staring at his hand. He rubbed his right wrist absent-mindedly. Slowly, a crease formed between his forehead, an expression of anger and regret took over his former poker-face. Was he remembering what happened at Phlegethon? I suddenly realized. Did he blame himself for my failing to escape to the right camp? I would reassure him and tell him it wasn't his fault, but this was merely a dream.

_Merely a dream? _A blood-chilling voice resonated in my head. I watched in terror as the face of the sleeping goddess formed in the trees outside Landyn's window. Landyn showed no signs of seeing Gaea, but I was frozen with fear and paralyzed in fury.

I managed to yell: "You planned it all! It was you who made Leo attack, wasn't it?"

The Dirt Woman smiled softly: "The children of the gods will slaughter each other. It has already begun. The Romans will march to Camp Half-blood in the matter of only weeks. But what do you plan to do, young one? You will be forced to fight for Rome."

"I will not fight the Greeks." I growled. "The two camps can't go to war!"

"So you will refuse the orders of the praetor? Or you will try to go to the Greeks? Either way, you will be sentenced to death. No, ignorant child, there's nothing you can do to save both camps. This is the beginning of the downfall of the gods."

I trembled in anger: "I don't care! I will make them see the truth!"

Gaea rippled as the leaves of the trees rustled in the wind. "Why so consistent? Why hope? Let me show you something to teach you to despair."

My vision blacked and when it cleared, what I saw shattered me like stone breaking glass.

_Your quest leader lies as well as dead, how's your hope now, my dear? _Gaea's voice laughed in my mind.

"No!" I murmured, terror drowning me.

With a jolt, I woke. The barrack was absolutely dark. Before I took another breath, fear of the dark took over me. Frantically, I fumbled around my bedside drawers until I found the flash light. In the risk of waking everybody in the room, I switched it on. The bright beam soothed my pounding my heart a little, but nothing could erase the things I'd just seen from my mind. Somehow, I had a feeling I was not the only one who was exposed to this cruel reality this night. The rest of the night was spent in extreme uncomfortable conditions as I held the flashlight with the covers over my head so the light wouldn't disturb anybody else. In the heat of the closed space and the way too bright light, I hardly slept a wink.

xxx

It was a relief when morning arrived. When Susan saw me, she looked me up and down and inquired: "Did you survive a battle with the pillows in the night? You look terrible."

I yawned tiredly and replied: "Uh-huh."

"Hurry up and get ready, I think we'd better get you all your equipment set before Dakota comes back from senate meeting. In case the plan says we have to set out immediately. Romans never wait." Susan said as she tried different methods to make my hair look more "becoming" but in vain. She herself had got up 5 in the morning and was long prepared. In fact, everyone was ready, except for me.

Bobby didn't join us for my equipment shopping, which wasn't a surprise to me, though it made me sad. In low spirits, I got all the standard Roman soldier necessities (a set of Roman armor, a _gladius, _a javelin, a dagger and a shield), with the helpful and scrutinizing eyes of Susan. Once the shopping was done, Susan ushered me back to Camp quickly. Thanks to her, we were just in time.

As we hurried back to the barracks of the Fifth Cohort, Dakota was just assembling his Cohort members. Strangely, Octavian was there too, besides a very flustered-looking Bobby. With the permission of the centurion, I dumped my things on my bed and ran back out as fast as I could. Seeing I was finally in place, Dakota cleared his throat and began:

"The senate has decided. We will track down the Greeks who assaulted on our city and the betrayers who sided with the invaders. Meanwhile, we will travel to Camp Half-blood and avenge the honor of Great Rome. Here is the deployment of the Fifth Cohort."

Dakota took out a scroll and unfurled it: "Soldiers of the Fifth Cohort will form the team of trackers to follow the trail of Argo II under the leadership of their centurion. It is our task to bring those who violated the rules of Rome back to receive the punishment they deserved. Our targets are: Annabeth Chase, Leo Valdez, Piper Mclean, of Camp Half-blood; Jason Grace, Percy Jackson, former praetor, and Frank Zhang, Hazel Levesque, formerly of…of the Fifth Cohort."

Dakota looked miserable as he finally spoke out the names of his former acquaintances. Everyone else was shaking their heads and frowning. Susan whispered to me: "I still can't believe Frank and Hazel went with the Greeks. Jason, I can understand. He must have been corrupted during all the time he spent in Camp Half-blood. I also can't believe the senate gave such an important job to _us. _Shouldn't it be the First or Second Cohort, according to routine? Everything just seems _wrong_!"

All I could think of was now I would never have the chance to contact July and Landyn. I had hoped if we were traveling to Camp Half-blood, I might be able to sneak a night off and somehow reach my sister. But my luck didn't allow me to have anything my way.

Octavian looked as if he couldn't care less about the scandal. Instead, he stared at me in a sort of gloating way.

Dakota continued: "This is a very important job, given to Cohort Five and Cohort Five only. We must not fail. We _will_ not fail."

He closed the scroll and said: "We have until lunch to prepare. After lunch, we will set off. Remember to pay your respects to the gods at Temple Hill before the leave. Dismiss."

The campers immediately started discussing the extraordinary task and went into the barracks. Octavian quickly walked towards me, with Bobby following, whose face was growing redder and redder. I stopped my tracks and looked at Bobby questioningly but he refused to meet my eyes.

"Hello, sister, ready for your first task? Aren't you lucky to be offered such a good chance to prove yourself? You should thank me on that part. Reyna felt it inappropriate but I convinced her to give the Fifth Cohort a shot." Octavian smirked as he reached me.

"Yes, I'm quite prepared and I feel extremely honored. But I'm not your sister. I'm your great-great-great-great-… aunt." I answered civilly. There was no way he let Cohort Five take on this task for good reasons. Cohort Five was the weakest, even I knew. Octavian wanted to keep me away from Camp Half-blood and to see if I had enough loyalty and ability to complete this task. Also, he planned this to let people who were former friends to fight each other, so as to deepen the hate between the Romans and the Greeks.

The smile on Octavian's face slipped off. He narrowed his eyes and said in a low voice: "Watch yourself, Loras, I don't trust you. Neither do the Lares. According to Bobby, something strange happened last night at the amphitheater."

He paused, obviously enjoying the look of disbelief I couldn't help giving Bobby.

"Don't worry, I'll find out what's about you, _Graecus _or not. We'll see how you feel then once I do." Octavian sneered and left briskly, leaving me to stand fuming.

"I-I-I'm sorry, June. I just-just thought it was s-s-strange and I had to report it." Bobby stammered, his face a well shade redder than his hair. I wanted to get angry at him but I couldn't. He was just doing what he was trained to do. If I had to blame someone, I could only blame myself. I failed to escape and now I got myself stuck in trouble knee high.

I managed a smile and reassured Bobby: "It's Ok, Bob. Don't apologize. You did the right thing."

Bobby looked up in surprise: "You…you mean you _are _a spy?"

I looked innocently at him: "Of course not, Bob. Why would you think that? It's just that you were mistaken. It'll be all right once Octavian finally sees I'm guilty-free."

**Oh gods, how could Bobby be so bad! It seems that he is a rule follower before he is a loyal friend! But don't hate him. He's just being honest.**

**Ah! I'm so evil. Now June has no real friends at Camp Jupiter at all! **

**Anyway, how did you like the chapter? Please read & REVIEW! **

**(Reader: "You want a review?"**

**Me: "Yes, yes, yes, please!" *puppy face* "I promise to post on time!")**

**-Amber-**


	9. Notice No2

Notice: I am so, so, so, sorry, folks. I guess you already know what I am going to say when you saw "Notice" huh? Yup, we're not posting a new chapter this week. I have loads of excuses, like I was working my head off trying to finish my vacation homework or…or…OK, I admit I can't find any other excuse. I'm useless, my sister says, and she is right. Well, I daresay I haven't disappointed much people, since not many are expecting anyway, but still, I apologize for not updating on time.

We'll try to post the chapter next week!

-Hazel-


	10. Chapter 8 July

**So good to write fanfic again! I'd almost forgotten how to write it. **** Sorry for the delay folks. But this chapter will not let you down. Surprises await you! So go read it now.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the PJ series or the HoO series. I wish.**

Chapter 8 July

After we got on the SUV driven by Argus that was supposed to take us to Manhattan, Landyn took out a typical looking Celestial Bronze sword and started examining it.

"You found a new weapon?" I asked.

"Mm-hmm," Landyn nodded, " I nearly forgot and just picked a sword randomly just before breakfast."

"It looks pretty neat." I said. Of course, I didn't know a thing about swords, but there was nothing else I could thing of to say. It would be awkward to ride the whole way down Half-blood hill in silence.

"'Suppose so. Ah, but it doesn't feel really balanced and...I still miss my revolver." Landyn murmured. _What really you miss is June. _I thought, but said nothing.

I tried to spit out a response but failed. Whatever reply I came up with would somehow direct the conversation to my sister. Now, _that _would be awkward. So I just nodded sympathetically and turned my face to the other side, pretending to look at the scenery flying past. After staring out the window in silence for a long time, my thoughts drifted to my dream last night and felt a chill down my spine.

With my head filled with fleeting images of June in the rainbow and horrible imaginations of Camp Jupiter as a cold, deserted military site, I had a hard time falling asleep; even the night-lights of the Apollo's Cabin didn't help. When I finally did, peace refused to come to my mind. In my dream, I saw a strange storage room with all sorts of strange things such as ballet costumes large enough for elephants and a variety of strange creatures in numerous cages. The place reminded me of the backstage of some sad crazy circus. But what really caught my eye, and at the same time stopped my heart was an enormous glass jar on a table. It was as tall as a person and as wide as three people holding hands to form a circle. My dream zoomed in on the jar.

Air left my windpipes as I recognized the black clothed figure curled at the bottom of the jar. The son of Hades lay on the glass, thin beyond imagination and motionless. Nico's eyes were closed and there was barely a rise and fall in his chest. In his hand, which was too frail to clench together properly, there were some red seeds.

"Nico!" I cried, my throat closing up immediately. I knew he couldn't hear me; I wasn't even really there. Sure enough, Nico continued to lie motionlessly. Just when I started to tell myself: _This is just a dream, just a nightmare..._ A sleeping woman's face appeared, her dark hair spreading out and filling the rest of image. Her eyes and mouth remained closed but her voice rang in my head.

_"Merely a dream?"_

Her voice was soft but cold, sending icicles down my stomach.

"Who are you?" I said, trying not to let my voice quiver.

_"But you know the answer, July Loras. Your sister and the son of Hades both know me well. I am..."_

"Gaea." I whispered. I didn't know what to think. She was Mother Earth, the ultimate villainess, the goddess I had feared and hated beyond everything...

"What do you mean, June and Nico know you well?" I managed.

_"They've seen me in their dreams; they had my warnings." _Gaea said. _"I warned them that the quest should fail. But they did not listen and the results are clear. You, my dear, are not as foolish, are you?"_

"No!" I shouted. "No! I mean, yes! No...Ah, leave me alone!" I covered my ears and shut my eyes in my dream.

_"You've seen what happened to those who opposed me. Your twin finds herself caged in the cove of enemy. The boy you care for so much lie alone, dying slowly. Listen to me and remember my words, July. When the time comes, let the impure blood be spilt, and you shall be spared." _The goddess of earth crooned.

"NO! I will never listen to you! _You_ caused the quest to fail! _You_ ignited the conflict between Camp Half-blood and Camp Jupiter!" I screamed. "SHUT UP!"

For a moment, there was only absolute silence. I had almost thought Gaea really did shut up, but her voice spoke out once more and my blood froze in my veins.

_"You shall regret your decision, foolish girl." _Then Gaea vanished completely, face and all. But the vision of Nico remained and I watched him until I woke up at last.

Gaea had left the image on purpose, I was sure, just to let me have a taste despair and hopelessness. It worked, because when I opened my eyes in the morning, my face was wet. But the weird thing was, somehow, I knew I was not the only one Gaea visited that night.

I hated not knowing things. I hated it even more than eating bananas. That was saying a lot since I get sick just thinking about eating those horrible yellow fruit. But now that I got some information, nothing improved. In fact, knowing about Nico and Grover made me feel worse. What was the point of knowing that Nico was trapped in a glass jar gods-know-where, alone and dying? Was there any use to know Grover had been seen in Central Park before disappearing? What good did it do to know that June was in Camp Jupiter, surrounded by violent, mean Romans? As far as I knew, we were still where we were at the beginning. The more I thought about our situation, the more depressed I got. My eyes started heating up. _Bad sign._ I bit my lips hard, determined not to let my eyes well up.

Suddenly, a gentle voice brought me back to reality.

"Hey, are you ok?" Landyn asked me. I blinked rapidly several times.

"I'm fine." I said a little too quickly, refusing to turn around and face him.

"No, you're not." Landyn insisted.

"What do you know? You don't live inside my head." I snapped, suddenly annoyed. Immediately, I felt bad. _What's wrong with me? It's not Landyn's fault. It isn't fair for me to get angry at him._

"I know because I can see it from your face." Landyn said calmly.

"How can you see my fa-" I started and caught sight of the reflection of my face on the window. _So that's how he was reading my face. _I thought. I meet Landyn's eyes in the reflection and saw him nod.

"You know, you can talk to me about it, whatever that's bothering you." He said quietly. After a few minutes of silence, I finally turned around. Landyn gave me an encouraging smile so I took a breath and told him everything.

It was hard talking about my nightmare and worries. By the time I finished, I barely could speak, and I couldn't hold my tears anymore. Landyn put his arm around me comfortingly and gave me a few minutes to calm down.

"Here you go." He said, giving me a paper tissue. "Feel better?"

I dried my eyes and nodded.

"Thanks." I muttered. I felt embarrassed for breaking down like that. I bet June was not making a cry-baby of herself in Camp Jupiter.

"Your welcome." Landyn grinned. "You know what? We might have no idea how to get things right at the moment, but we are at least on our way to do something. That's better than doing nothing, right? All problems have answers; it's just a matter of time that we find them. Right now what we have to do is focus on our task and have faith in each other."

I stared at Landyn's face and let the words sink in. I could feel my heart getting lighter.

Just at that moment, the van slowed into a stop. I looked to the front seat and found all of Argus's eyes were turned on us, indicating that the trip was over. It was still weird to all those eyes on the great man's neck, arm, and other places. Landyn and I got out of the van, shouldering our bags and watched Argus drive away. We looked around found ourselves at the gate of Central Park. It was already nearly dusk. Landyn and I exchanged glances and walked in, anticipation growing in our heart.

But as we wandered on the shady avenues and paths, the excitement faded. _Why does the park have to be so damn big? _I cried in my head. _Why the hell are there so many trees? _People around us kept throwing us suspicious or bewildered looks. Well, I couldn't blame them. One does not see two teenage kids wandering in a park calling out "Oak, are you there?" or "Is there a nymph called Oak here?" every day.

In the end, we did find Oak. Except we didn't just find _one _Oak. After walking around calling "Oak" for almost an hour till our throats and feet were sore, we ended up standing in a clearing in a woods a little way from the road with a dozen hamadryades in front of us. They all looked similar, with dark wavy hair, standard nymph-ish features and green or brown dresses. They giggled and whispered among themselves, examining us with interest, or at least examining Landyn.

"Now what do we do?" I asked in exasperation to Landyn.

"We'll just ask." He replied and turned to the crowd of nymphs. "Hey, sorry for calling you guys out. But uh, we're just looking for the Oak that gave Juniper the leaf message."

The nymphs looked at one another and then burst into giggling again. "A lot of us have given a lot of Junipers leaf messages." One oak dryad informed us, apparently amused.

"I mean who gave the Juniper at camp a leaf message about Grover!" Landyn said, getting a little impatient now. The tree spirits just laughed harder.

"Urgh! They're really getting on my nerves!" I said angrily under my breath and then called loudly: "Oak, you know we are talking about you- "

"I do?" Instantly several nymphs chorused and once again fell into a fit of laughter. _What's the problem with these silly trees? _I thought. The nymphs I'd met in Camp Half-blood were at least helpful.

"They are just excited that they have company. I guess they don't see many demigods here often." Landyn whispered to me and I jumped. To think back on it, it probably didn't need a great expression reader to know what I had been thinking.

I scowled and called out again: "Hey, you bunch of silly nymphs! Stop fooling us and tell us what we need, or I'll set fire to your pretty little dresses!" I guessed my threatening worked, because immediately the giggling died and the hamadryades glared at me in unison. They looked at me with as if I were a disgusting dead fish. But I sensed fear behind their murderous glare.

Landyn sighed and grimaced beside me.

"What?" I demanded. He shook his head and held up his hands as if in surrender.

"Now, if the particular Oak that has the information we need kindly come up to us." I glared at Landyn once and turned back to the group of nymphs. After a few minutes of shuffling in the group, a considerably skinny girl stumbled out and stepped up to us. Not to my surprise, she was staring daggers at me,

"I'm Oak." She said shortly.

"So we've known." I replied coolly.

Landyn said in a hurry: "Thank you so much for cooperating. We just need to ask some questions, really." He flashed her a smile and I saw Oak's anger waver. But she recovered quickly.

"Who says I'm going to cooperate?" She said, chin high.

"Oh gods, what do I have to do to get you help us?" I cried impatiently.

"You can stay and entertain us for some time." Oak said, an impish smile spreading on her heart-shaped face.

"Really? Tha-" I started to say. I was about to say _That's easy._ But Landyn cut me off.

"Oh I'm terribly sorry. But we don't have the time. It's really urgent; we need to find Grover fast or bad things would happen." Landyn tried reasoning.

Oak's face became stormy again, but she asked: "What bad things?"

"Without Grover, Camp Half-blood won't be able to hold off the Romans. And Grover will be of great use in the war against the Giants too." He explained.

"What does your little Camp has to do with us? I don't care if you get crushed by Romans or Giants." Oak retorted. I flared up again but Landyn put a hand on my shoulder.

"But if half-bloods fail, who will come to your woods and talk to you? I daresay Giants won't be good visitors. They'd probably step on you and snap your branches just by walking around." Landyn said. Oak frowned and tapped her chin, looking doubtful.

"Think about it?" Landyn pleaded again. "Tell us what you know about Grover and I promise we'll come back to visit after we've finished our task, ok?" He smiled his superstar smile at her once more. Oak blushed slightly and nodded at long last.

"Well, I saw Grover walking past my tree some days ago, or was it some weeks ago? You see, we tree spirits are not that sensible about time-"

"Yes, I know. Can you go back to the part that you saw Grover?" I urged. In return, I got an irritated scowl. Oak turned back to Landyn and continued to talk.

"When I saw him, he was sort of in a hurry, muttering to himself and looking around as if being chased." Oak said.

"Did you hear what he was muttering?" Landyn asked, brows furrowing.

"A bit. Something about 'wonder why he wants me to go to Brooklyn Botanic Gardens?' and 'sounds urgent'." Oak recounted.

"Another park?" I groaned.

Landyn knitted his eyebrows. "Anything else you heard, Oak?"

"Um…yeah, something about like 'hope it has nothing to do with bees'." Oak said, a strange smile playing at her lips. But when we asked if she really had nothing else to tell us, she shook her head definitely. So we thanked her and bid the dryads goodbye. They were plenty mournful to know that we were leaving, making us promise again that we'd visit again.

When we finally came out of Central Park, it was already dark. My stomach was growling and my legs were falling off. Landyn was obviously feeling the same, so we found a fast food restaurant and had some food.

"So what park are we heading to again?" I asked. We'd had our meal and were standing out by the street again.

"Brooklyn Botanic Garden." Landyn replied. "But when we get there, it'd be really late." What he said was the truth. We fell in silence.

At last, I bit my lips and informed: "You know what? My place is not far from the Garden. We can spend the night at my home. My mom wouldn't mind, I think." I hadn't mentioned it before because I didn't want to go home. Not without June.

"Really? If you don't want to we can just sleep on park benches like last time." Landyn asked, sensing my unwillingness.

I made a face. "And act like a homeless person again with a sore back? I think I'll go home." He laughed and so home we went.

xxx

Though we were going to my home, it was really Landyn who navigated us from Manhattan to Brooklyn by subway. I, being hopeless in finding the way, was no help until we were only a block away from the building where I lived.

"Brace yourself." I told Landyn. He nodded nervously. He had seen how my mother could go off. I turned back to the door to home. It seemed so familiar, yet so unfamiliar. It felt like months since I stood before this door, but actually it had only been barely a week. I took a breath and knocked. And knocked. After several minutes, the door opened.

"Who-" My mom started to say.

But the sight of her did it; I flung into her arms and cried: "Mom, it's me!"

She backed up a few steps from the impact but caught me firmly. "July? Oh, July, you came home!" She said in disbelief, tears welling up in her eyes. The rest after that was surprisingly smooth. We went into the apartment and Mom actually didn't scream at me. She just kept sniffing and hugging me, saying: "Oh, my baby. Look at you; you've lost weight! You must be so tired!" and "I missed you so much! I didn't expect you come back tonight though." I was a bit embarrassed by the fuss she made, but as long as she didn't start shouting, I could live with it.

When I explained why June wasn't able to come ("June accidently broke her leg when she was climbing. That's why she couldn't send you Iris messages or come back home…But really, she's fine."), her face fell. However, she nodded. Then I introduced Landyn to her. She gave me a disapproving look as if saying: _Moving on so fast? _I wanted slap my forehead.

Though we told her we already had supper, she made us waffles anyway, smiling contently as we wolfed it down. When it was time to sleep, Mom managed to make a bed out of our lumpy sofa for Landyn. He thanked her and went to sleep immediately.

"You should get some sleep now too, honey." Mom said to me. "Didn't you say you have work to do tomorrow?" I nodded and allowed her to kiss my forehead before going back to the room I shared with June. It was just as messy and cramped as I left it. But somehow, I never thought the room looked emptier.

The next morning, we set off after having some of my mom's awesome pancakes. Landyn looked as if he didn't sleep much, which I felt responsible for. When I apologized for letting him sleep on a sofa, he shook his head and told me that he had a dream. A dream about Grover and mangoes. But he couldn't remember much.

It didn't take long for us to get to Brooklyn Botanic Garden. It was a truly beautiful place, with a lot of trees and grass and flowers of all colors. But we wondered how we were supposed to find Grover. The entire park was huge, with several gardens. It'd take forever for us to search the whole park. But it turned out we didn't need to. We had only walked for less than five minutes in the Garden when a group of Anthousai, flower nymphs, came to us. They smiled sweetly and danced around us. Much nicer than the hamadryads, if I had to say. After being asked if they had seen a satyr called Grover, the nymphs led us through the Garden, dancing and laughing ahead of us.

Soon, we found ourselves in the Cranford Rose Garden. The Anthousai led us off the path into the woods and suddenly they were gone. We had come to a small clearing surrounded by tall trees. Through the gaps between the trees, we could see a large rose bed not far away. I noticed several hives with bees flying around them nearby. I remembered Oak's words and felt my skin crawl. Under a great birch, there was an empty white beach chair and a small wooden picnic table.

We looked around but there was no one in sight.

"Um, is Grover sitting in that chair, invisible, or are we tricked?" I asked slowly.

Landyn shrugged and called: "Grover? Is Grover here?" No reply.

"Is _anyone _here?" I called out too. Suddenly, I realized that the buzzing sound of bees was getting larger.

"Uh, Landyn? I'm not really fond of bees." I said in a small voice, moving closer to him. I was sure there weren't this many bees a minute ago. They buzzed and zipped around us. I could just imagine the stings on their ends finding their place in my skin. Just then, a voice came out from behind.

"My bees told me that I have visitors. Well, well, let's see what we have here." A man's voice said. I whipped around a saw a tall figure by the edge of the clearing. A bunch of flower nymphs with black wavy hair and red dresses flocked him. And of course, more bees. So many bees swarming around him that I couldn't see exactly what he looked like.

"Who are you? Where's Grover?" I demanded boldly. "Give him back and maybe we'll let you live."

The man chuckled and waved his hands. The bees flew away and revealed the mysterious man. He looked about 25, lean and fit like an athlete. He had copper colored skin and shoulder-length stringy brown hair. He wore typical white Greek clothes so I knew I was most likely dealing with an immortal…which made me regret threatening him.

"I admire your courage, daughter of Apollo. And I am not surprised if you do not know me." He said easily. "I am Aristaeus, god of cattle, fruit trees, hunting, husbandry and bee-keeping. It is me who taught humans how to keep bees in hives. It is me who taught humans how to use nets and traps in hunting. Most importantly, it is _me_ who taught humans how to make cheese. If it wasn't for me, would you be able to enjoy cheeseburgers, cheesecakes, cheese doodles or Aussie Cheese Fries with ranch dressing?"

Before Landyn or I could say anything, he answered himself: "No, you wouldn't. Alas, but no one thinks of me when they eat honey or cheese." He fell silent at last, hung his head and sighed as if mourning himself.

"Um, I'm so sorry to hear that." Landyn said.

"Yeah," I chimed in, "it's most unfortunate. But can you please tell us where Grover is? It's pretty urgent."

"Grover…I asked him to come to me." Aristaeus said slowly, probably still thinking about how unappreciated he was.

"Where is he then?" Landyn asked anxiously.

The god lifted his head and looked at us with a strange expression. "It's better if you give up on that satyr. His fate has been decided."

"What? Give up?" I cried indignantly.

"What do you mean, 'his fate'?" Landyn asked in alarm.

"The satyr has a part to play in the Mother's plan. Small, yes, but it may speed things up." Aristaeus said, striding towards one of his bee hives and examining it closely.

I didn't understand most of what he said, but I did get something. "Gaea! You're on Gaea's order!" I said angrily, whipping out my magical hairpin. Instantly, my bow quiver appeared in my hand. Aristaeus didn't so much as flinch at the sight of the arrow pointing at his face. His amber eyes turned cold.

"That would not be wise, girl." He said icily. I suddenly realized that Landyn and I were surrounded by hundreds of angry bees. Since when did the nice flower nymphs all disappear? Not until then did I fully realize that he was a hunter. A killer.

Landyn put a hand on my arm and I lowered my bow, scowling.

"That's more like it." The god of bumble-bees said in satisfactory. He waved his hand and the tornado of bees around us thinned.

"Now, where were we?" He said, carelessly, "Oh yes. Gaea asked me to deal with the troublesome satyr. I couldn't say 'no' now, could I?"

"Gaea made me immortal thousands of years ago. I owe her my service. Besides, Mother Earth is not someone to oppose." Aristaeus said, moving on to the next bee hive.

"What did you do to Grover?" I asked in a shaky voice, dread filling my heart.

"What I did to him is not your concern. As I said, give up and go home." The god replied shortly.

Landyn stepped up and reasoned: "Please, God Aristaeus, we just want to know what happened to him. Then we'll leave immediately."

Aristaeus looked coldly into Landyn's eyes and said: "Get out of my sight before I really get angry. One bee sting might not kill you, but what about ten? Fifty, perhaps? Or a hundred?"

I could sense the bees getting agitated.

**Ah, how long has it been since I last finished a chapter in a cliffhanger? Haha. I'd missed researching on Greek mythology. This chapter is longer than I expected. But that's what you like, isn't it? So how do you think? Please R&R! And stay posted; the story is getting more intense and interesting from here. We have a lot in store for you!**

**-Hazel**

**P.S. Amber posted a one shot Harry Potter fanfic about Fred and George. First one shot, first HP fanfic, check it out and tell us what you think!**


	11. Chapter 9 Landyn

**Hi! It's been so long since I wrote fanficiton! I'm really ashamed to admit that the first one-third of this chapter was written by Hazel because I didn't have time. But anyway, I followed the plots she came up with and finally finished this chap! I hope my writing skills haven't weakened because of my lack of practice. Next week, we're going to have a flea market at school. I'm super excited! Just imagine all the cool things I can get. I've heard one class will be selling Harry Potter things. I'm definitely not missing that one. Haha. :D**

**Well, let's just get to the point. Enjoy Chapter 9!**

**-Amber-**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson series.**

Chapter 9 Landyn

July gulped at the sight at the bees, eye widening in fear. Aristaeus rose one of his hand slowly up into the air, as if about to give an order to kill.

"No, wait! Please!" I shouted. The god's arm stopped mid-air. He narrowed his eyes.

"Any last words?" He said coldly.

"Yes, please make a deal with us, my lord." I said, stealing a glance around us. I caught sight of a piece of glittering blue somewhere outside the woods. How far was it from here? 300 meters?

"Another deal?" July whispered in a strangled voice. I nodded at her assuring.

"A deal?" Aristaeus repeated suspiciously. His arm was back down, hanging by his side. I secretly let out a breath.

"That's right. We want to make a deal with you. How about this," I said in a hurry, "You set your bees on us and if we get away without any beestings, you tell us the information we need."

"What?!" July cried incredulously. "Set his bees on us?"

But the god of beekeeping roared in laughter. "You have guts. I like that. But no one can escape from my bees."

"Well, then there's nothing to lose, right?" I said.

"No, there isn't." Aristaeus agreed. He thought for a moment, probably wondering if this was a trick. But in the end he said: "You have a deal. I'll count to 3 and I'll set my bees on you. If I were you, I'd run as far as possible can before that."

"1…" He started to count.

"Wait!" July interrupted. I whipped around and looked at her in surprise. Aristaeus stopped counting and looked at her too, slightly annoyed.

"Swear on River Styx." July said defiantly. "Swear on River Styx that you'll tell us what you did to Grover if we get away unscathed." I stared at her in admiration. Obviously she was still freaked out by the idea of a game with the bees, but she had made up her mind that she would play it. I could also sense that she was thinking about how Nico had made Python swear on Styx too in Underworld.

Aristaeus laughed again. "Oh you're careful, aren't you?"

"A friend taught me that." She replied, clenching her fists.

"Very well. I will make the oath, if that's your last wish." The god said generously.

"I swear on River Styx!" He said solemnly. "Satisfied, girl?"

July nodded. "You can start now."

"1…" Aristaeus boomed.

"RUN!" I cried and pulled July into a sprint.

"…2…"

I rummaged through my backpack frantically. "Don't put away your bow!" I shouted at July.

"…3!" Immediately, a deafening buzzing sound closed on. I could hear Aristaeus roaring in laughter behind us.

"Shoot it before it lands!" I called to July. We ran as fast as we could, avoiding crashing into trees at the same time.

"Shoot what?" She cried.

"Just shoot!" I shouted and turned around abruptly. July jerked into a stop too. I threw a plastic bottle filled with viscous liquid at the bees with all my might. July drew her bow and aimed at it. With a zap, she let loose and the arrow flew at the bottle. The bottle burst and honey spilled everywhere. Bees stopped following us and flew towards the sweet stuff instead.

"Keep running!" I urged and we ran. _Halfway there! _I thought.

"Landyn, it's not working!" July cried, her voice laced in panic. I bit my lips; I had foreseen that. But I had hoped it wouldn't come to that.

"Can your arrow pierce thermo bottles?" I asked.

"I think so. Whatever you're thinking, just hurry. The bees are closing in on us!" She replied.

I whipped out a thermo bottle out of my backpack and threw it at the bees. "Shoot!"I shouted. Another arrow zipped past. With a loud noise, the metal bottle blast open and "ice tea" splattered onto the trees and the ground. Nectar. The bees went crazy, totally forgetting about chasing us.

"Now, run to the lake!" I turned to July. She nodded with wide eyes. Together we ran and suddenly, we emerged out of the woods. We continued to run, dodging mortal families. They cried in surprise and then complained at we ran past. Suddenly, someone screamed behind us. The bees were back on track.

Just when the bees caught up with us, we jumped into the water, making a huge splash. _Whoam-fshhhh._I opened my eyes with difficulty. Millions of tiny bubbles surrounded us, rocking upwards. When the bubbles disappeared, I could see July only a few feet away. She had her eyes shut tight and her fingers pinching her nose. Such a childish gesture made me want to laugh. Then, a beautiful girl's face appeared in the water next to me. More naiads with flowing hair floated to us.

"Are the bees gone?" I tried to ask, but only bubbles came out. I shut my mouth again. I couldn't hold my breath much longer and I doubted that July could either. Her face was red from holding her breath.

The naiads disappeared for a moment and when they came back, they nodded and smiled. They reached out and pulled us to the surface. When my head finally broke through the surface, I gasped and drunk down the air gratefully. July came up next time, spluttering and coughing.

"Are the devils gone?" She gasped.

I looked around, "Coast clear." I confirmed.

"Oh, thank gods!" She cried.

With the help of the naiads, we got onto the shore. I fell back onto the grass and panted. July dropped down beside me. People stared at us, naturally. Probably visitors weren't allowed to swim in the lake. Well, it was an emergency, wasn't it?

"I'm surprised your plan worked." July said feebly.

"And I'm surprised your head didn't burst down there." I joked.

"Well, it might if I stayed a little longer." She laughed.

"I'm impressed." A voice said. "Nectar?"

We scrambled to our feet. Aristaeus was standing behind us. Bees still surrounded him, but none of them bothered us.

"I didn't imagine you would use the precious Nectar as bait." The god said.

"Sometimes sacrifices must be made." I said.

"Yeah, at least the sacrifice wasn't a person." July muttered."Now can we know what happened to Grover?"

Aristaeus waved his hand and several nymphs appeared around us, wrapping us in fluffy towels. I didn't ask where they got the towels, but I had a strong suspicion that they were from the souvenir shops. After drying ourselves up briefly with the towel, the nymphs used large leafs to fan at us. Thankfully, the sun was hot, so we dried up pretty quickly.

"As I have told you, I captured Grover by the orders of Gaea." Aristaeus started to tell the story. "She also wanted me to kill him. But I was reluctant-"

"You were?" July blurted.

The god glared at her. "Yes, I didn't want to kill the satyr. I am a god of the nature, after all. I befriend all who are friends with nature."

July argued: "Then why did you listen to Gaea?"

Aristaeus glowered at us: "As I have already said, I owe Gaea my immortality. The great goddess made me a god thousands of years ago and in return, I tame her bees and keep them in hives. I also tame her oleaster and make it bear olives- Oh yes, Gaea loves olives. In addition I do some favors for her from time to time. It's not a bad bargain, you see."

"Yes, you got a great deal." I agreed quickly before July could say anything else, trying not to dwell on the fact of the goddess who wants to destroy the world likes olives. "I totally understand why you captured Grover now."

"You _do_?" July stared at me. Apparently, she thought Aristaeus' tale was a load of dung.

"You do?" Aristaeus looked at me expectedly, even eagerly. He must usually receive quite a small amount of approval.

I smiled and replied: "Of course. You were just keeping your promise and repaying your debts, as any good god would do. I'm impressed by your loyalty and perseverance."

No one moved or spoke. I could hear every leaf rustle with the wind. July averted her eyes, watching the grass by her feet. The god of the bees stared at me. Slowly, an expression of gratitude with a pitch of regret unfolded on his face. I kept my smile warm and encouraging. I admit, it was all a part of my plan to find Grover, but I couldn't help feeling glad that Aristaeus got some approval, even if it was only from me.

"Thank you, my boy. It's been so long since any one acknowledged my existence, much less praise me. I'm very sorry if my deeds had brought you trouble."

July glanced at him swiftly. Thought no words were spoken, I knew she was thinking how his "deeds" would likely do a lot more than "trouble".

"It's fine. But I wonder if you could tell us why Gaea wanted Grover. I can't understand what good a small satyr would do to Gaea's great plan."

Aristaeus pursed his mouth but after second thought he spoke up: "I'll only say these things once. The satyr is not very important, but he is Gaea's back-up plan to destroy the two demigod camps. If Gaea's plan now doesn't work, she will use Grover's disappearance to ignite Percy Jackson's anger and therefore turn the two camps against themselves."

July sucked in her breath besides me. A chill ran down my spine as I took in the god's words. Though everything was already as Gaea wanted—Camp Jupiter declaring war against Camp Half-blood, the Seven off on an impossible quest to save a dying son of Hades, she still had _back-up plans_. Our winning possibility suddenly seemed minute. I took a couple of deep breaths, calming myself and thinking my next step.

"You wouldn't tell us the specific details of this back-up plan or what the on-going main plan, would you?" I asked.

The god grimaced: "No. I have already said as much as I could. Now, begone."

"But," July started in a rush. I warned her with a look. She slowed down immediately: "I mean, Mr. Aristaeus, what did you exactly do to Grover? It seems that he is no longer with you."

The god's face now was so remorseful that I could barely bear to hear him answer. "He is in the hands of Polyphemus. I'm sorry, son of Aphrodite."

At first, I didn't realize how bad things were, but July said shakily: "Oh, gods, tell me it's not _that _Polyphemus."

"Who's Polyphemus?" I asked in confusion.

July looked at me in shock: "You don't know? He's the giant Cyclopes that Odysseus blinded in the legends and also the one that Percy Jackson and Grover met with a few years back."

"Yes, I gave Grover to him. I traded the satyr for a small flock of sheep. I didn't want to have the satyr anyway, besides, I was tired of looking after only bees and cattle…" Aristaeus whispered, looking more and more shameful. Sensing his agitation, the bumble bees hummed louder and swirled around even more violently.

Somehow, I felt that I had known Grover was with a Cyclopes already. But first things first, I figured that this was a good time to leave. "It's OK, God Aristaeus. We don't blame you. In fact, we're grateful for your help. Now, we mustn't trouble you longer."

While the god kept mourning, July picked up my cue and added: "It's been nice meeting you, Lord Aristaeus. But we must go now. Farewell!"

Without waiting for a reply, we turned and walked away as fast as we could without drawing the angry bees' attention.

After we were sure we were well out of the bees' scope of attack, July dropped down onto a park bench, and groaned: "This is bad. Really bad."

I sat down next to her and put on my sunglasses. It was still midday and there were quite a few people wandering not far from us. I didn't want to risk my powers going off unexpectedly.

July raised her eyebrows at me: "Huh. It's been some time since I've seen you wore sunglasses."

"Yeah," I replied absent-mindedly. I was mostly trying to find out why I didn't feel so surprised that Grover was in a Cyclopes hands.

"Grover had already been on Polyphemus' bad side. I'm afraid he won't last long in the Cyclopes' captivity. Polyphemus must hate his guts so much…"

While July went on analyzing how Grover must be dead, a little boy with mango flavored ice-cream walked by.

Mango…? Something struck in my memories. With a jolt, I remembered the dream I had last night on the Loras' sofa.

_I was in a dark underground place that looked like a parking lot. It must have been abandoned as there were no cars or people around except for one large rusty pick-up truck. In the dream, I sensed a fire crackling. Gliding towards the sound, I reached the other side of the truck. What revealed before my eyes was nothing like anything I've seen. A little pile of broken wood cart splinters was on fire. Next to the tiny flame, a huge creature crouched._

"_You stupid satyr, I see you're not dead from last time?" The monster growled, swatting a mummified figure on the floor. I moved closer and saw it was a satyr, with small horns sticking out of his wild brown curls. His pupils were dilated in fear and his mouth stuffed._

"_No one will save you this time, goat." The monster laughed, "They've forgotten you. The great Percy Jackson is now with better and more powerful friends. Who needs you?"_

_The satyr twitched so hard his hooves kicked the giant in the shin._

"_Ow!" The monster screeched. "You insufferable goat! You still think I'm kidding? Then why else no one has come to save you? Or even look for you? Admit it, you've been forsaken by the demigods."_

_The satyr's struggling went slack. His eyes filled with tears._

"_That's right, no one needs you. It's better that I eat you. Just wait till I find some mangoes. Don't think I have forgotten. I will eat you grilled with mango chutney!" The giant stood up. "I'll be back at midnight, the latest, since mangoes are such tricky things…What are they anyway?"_

_With one last well aimed kick at the satyr that left him unconscious, he stood and turned around. Seeing his face, I was paralyzed in fear. A single eye sat on his brutal menacing face, webbed and covered with cataracts._

"Hey!" July shook me. "Did you hear me or not?"

"No, I'm sorry. But I think I have an idea of where Grover is." I said grimly.

July's eyes widened: "Really? Where?"

I remembered the logo on the parking lot floor. "An abandoned department store. But I don't know where it exactly is."

"What department store? How did you know?" July asked in awe.

I shrugged. "It was my dream. But we'd better get going, I'm not even sure if Grover's still alive. It depends on how fast Polyphemus can find mango chutneys."

"Mango chutneys?" July seemed lost. But we had no time to waste. I was already getting up and heading towards the park exit. July followed quickly.

Once we got onto the streets, I hailed a cab. After July climbed in the back seats, I smiled at the cabbie: "Hello mister. Happen to know where the abandoned department store site of Macy's is?"

July looked questioningly at me through the review mirror. I nodded at her confidently to show I knew what I was doing. The driver scratched his head: "The abandoned Macy? You mean the one that was given up because of some building issues? Yeah, I know where it is. But do you kids want to go there for?"

"Oh nothing. It's just for a school social studies project." I lied.

It took us half an hour to arrive at the empty building site. After paying the cabbie, we were left standing alone in front of the "danger—stay away" streamers.

"So…let's go." I lifted the old torn streamers a little and they snapped easily. That showed just how long this place had been abandoned. I started to go in, but July grabbed my arm.

"Wait!" She said. "Didn't Rachel warn us about building sites and…and parking lots?" Her pale blue eyes were full of fear. She glanced around, though no one was around. But that seemed to make her even more apprehensive. I wondered whether the Loras twins were not only afraid of the dark, but also terrified of places without people around.

I patted her gently and said: "If we want to save Grover, we don't have a choice, do we?"

She shut her eyes tightly and sighed. When she opened them again, she nodded in determination. At last, we stepped past the border line, with July sticking close behind me. Just as I expected, an archaic blue parking sign pointed towards a slope leading underground. If my dream wasn't lying, we were about to find Grover, tied up and silenced. But whether Polyphemus had found mangoes and returned remained to be seen.

The parking lot had only one layer, expanding in the dark. July whimpered and shuffled next to me, drawing out her golden bow. I drew my bronze sword too, to bring us some light. The fire I've seen in my dream was out, obviously, as no other light could be seen apart from that of the Celestial bronze. Considering the fact that no giant one-eyed monsters came leaping on us, I guessed Polyphemus wasn't having much luck looking for mangoes. Or he was asleep so he couldn't see our light. I led the way, trying my best to see into the dark. At one point, I made out a bulk of a truck in the shadows. Being the only vehicle I saw in the dream, I was pretty sure Grover was behind it.

"There." I nudged July. "Grover should be behind that truck."

July gulped but took out a golden arrow. I steadied my breathing and inched forward. As quietly as we could, we made our way to the truck. When we finally reached it, my heart was pounding so hard I couldn't hear anything else. Tentatively, we peaked over the edge.

Lying on the floor was Grover, motionless. No Cyclopes was in sight. July rushed over and cut the bindings with her knife without hesitation. "Grover!" She called, shaking the satyr's limp body. "Wake up! We're here to save you! That is, if you wake up. Or we'd be committing suicide…"

I started towards him too, but a strange chill made me stop in my tracks. I turned slowly and looked at the truck box, which we ignored until now. It was huge, big enough to fit a small room, I estimated. Ever so slightly, I reached out to pull the doors open. But I didn't need to.

"Haaaaa!" A huge shape roared and burst from the truck. I dropped to the ground, barely escaping being crushed, and screamed at July: "Watch out! He's here!"

Polyphemus whirled around towards me and swung his club. I dove to one side and the truck was smashed to a wreck, flying towards the other side of the parking lot. Hades, that was some strength.

"Who are you, skinny pin demigod?" The Cyclopes sneered, "I've never seen you before. So someone is here for that dumb satyr. But never mind, a few more appetizers won't do any bad."

I held my sword as best as I could, but I was still unfamiliar with the grip. I yearned for my revolver. Just then, a gold arrow whizzed and implanted itself on the back of Polyphemus' knee. I scrambled back and joined July in front of the stirring Grover.

"We need to get Grover conscious! We'll never make it out alive if we have to drag a sleeping goat with us!" July cried out.

I nodded. "You try to wake him. Use your Apollo powers, your Loras ferocity, whatever. I'll stall the Cyclopes."

July swiftly dropped the ground next to Grover and started yelling at him. I, on the other hand, gave an experimental swing of my sword at the monster. But Polyphemus was agile, jumping away just in time. I yelled and charged, but Polyphemus opened his mouth.

He said: "Stop, Landyn! Don't kill me!" It wasn't what he said that cut me off short, but his voice. It was the voice of the Loras twins.

In the short instant when I was caught off guard, Polyphemus grinned in satisfaction and swung his club.

The blow was overwhelming. I fell to the ground, fading into darkness as July screamed somewhere besides me.

**So, people, how d'ya think? Give me some reviews! **

**Also, check out my HP one-shot, **_**Fred's Wand**_**!**

**-Amber-**


	12. Chapter 10 June

**Ha! I updated on time at last! How long was it since I updated on time last time? Hehe…too long to remember. Anyway, this chapter came out a little unexpected, but I suppose in a good way. I have monthly exams for two days starting from tomorrow and an English competition next weekend, which was why I was so anxious to get everything done this weekend. Anyway, all this is boring. Let's just get to the chapter. :)**

**-Amber-**

**Disclaimer: The PJ series and HoO series belong to Rick Riordan…Gah, I'm tired of saying this! It's obvious! **

Chapter 10 June

Before we assembled to set off, Susan took me to the Temple Hill to pay our respects to the gods, with a fidgety Bobby following. In my perspective, Bobby still didn't know what to make of me and the Iris message incident, but he also didn't want to get in bad terms with me since he's still responsible for me—at least for the time I'm in probation. I tried to ignore the glue-thick tension between us.

The sun was bright on the sun, scorching the back of my neck as we climbed up the small slope up Temple Hill. Great, I was already sweating before we even started on our task. Thankfully, the hill wasn't really big so soon, amazing alters and vaults started appearing along the crazy trail. Statues of immortals stood towering several feet over people's head among the buildings. First, we stopped at the Bellona's Temple, as tradition before leaving for war. A spear was driven into the ground in the middle of the Temple, demonstrating Camp Jupiter's condition at war. Both Susan and Bobby grew grave and grim, obviously taking this seriously. I tried to act genuine too, but how could I when I definitely wasn't planning to battle? I couldn't wait to leave.

After the Temple of Bellona, we paid visits to Susan's father Mercury's crypt and Bobby's mother Ceres' temple. When we passed Poseidon, I mean, Neptune's little building, I silently put in a prayer to the sea god. Praying that Percy can save Nico. A lump grew at the back of my throat but I pushed it down and quickly caught up with the others, who were leading me to Apollo's temple. When I saw my father's temple, I caught my breath. It wasn't much bigger than Neptune's, but it stood at the edge of a small cliff of the hill, completely bathed in sunlight. The snow-white columns and temple top seemed to glitter and glow. Stricken with awe, I stepped up and touched the solid walls. It was warm, soaked in the sun. As much as I didn't hold any respect to my irresponsible playboy father, I couldn't deny the relieving sensation of security and sanction the moment my skin contacted with Apollo's temple.

"There you go, the Temple of Phoebus, or Apollo, if you prefer. Go in and do whatever, we'll wait outside." Susan grinned, seeing my expression. Even Bobby couldn't hide his smile. I gave her a grateful smile and let myself in. Inside, the temple was just as satisfying. Open up and spacey, it didn't have much adornments, like all the other Apollo buildings. At the far end of the room, in front of an opening towards the cliff, a tall marble Apollo statue stood. On the altar at the feet of the statue, someone had put a bowl of fresh fruit, a couple of arrows and a lyre. I walked slowly, taking my time to enjoy the soothing wind blowing through the columns. Pausing right in front of the statue, I studied its face, deciding that it was fairly well made, though the jaw was too square. As I stared at the blank marble eyes, I wondered how I was ever going to get myself out of this mess.

_Please, Dad, help me out. Tell me what to do. _I thought. He didn't answer, of course. I turned and strode out of the temple before the emotionless, unfeeling stone of my father started to creep me out.

"All right! So all that needs to be done is done. Let's have lunch and we'll be off." Susan said cheerfully. I nodded in agreement and the three of us headed back towards the camp.

xxx

Lunch was a blur. Legionnaires wolfed down their food, rushed around asking each other last minute questions about packing and basically just panicked. Some of them even had their gear on already, trying not to poke themselves with sharp points while eating. I could guess they didn't really face wars, or rather, wars on fellow half-bloods, often. Chaotic as it was, a legion of prepared Roman demigods in uniform purple and denim were standing in crowds according to tasks at the clearing in front of the mess hall at last. Reyna gave a brief pep talk to the Cohort leaders and called out: "Soldiers of Rome, we will fight and avenge our honor."

The crowd cheered.

"There's not much to say. Let's just get going!" She ordered.

The crowd erupted into yells and roars, troops gathering and heading towards the Decumanian Gate, where people usually go through to leave New Rome. I quickly followed Dakota down the street.

"Where are we going?" I asked when I realized we were heading the opposite direction.

Much to my surprise and irritation, a familiar snooty voice answered: "Oh we're not going the usual way. Our task is special."

"What are _you _doing here?" I growled at the scrawny blond boy that materialized next to me. Dakota frowned at the sight of the augur but just took a swig of red Kool-Aid. I couldn't blame him, since Octavian held a considerably high position in the legion, after all. Octavian shrugged, smirking: "You didn't expect us to really let Cohort Five take on this task alone, did you? While Praetor Reyna will lead the way to Camp Half-blood, I'm going to supervise this hunt after the _Graecus._"

"And by the way spy on me." I muttered.

Octavian slapped me on the back, flashing a great fake smile: "That's right, Loras. I also have the responsibility to keep an eye on our newest member."

I was about to think up a retort but Dakota suddenly jerked into a stop, making me plant my face into the back of his over-stuffed backpack involuntarily.

"Oof." I stumbled back, rubbing my nose. "What's the brake for…?" The questions died in my throat as I looked past Dakota and saw what was in front of the troop. It turned out that we had reached a hill top, where more than a dozen of huge eagles were waiting. The creatures were beautiful. Their wings had a span of over two meters each, covered with steely feathers that glistened bronze under the sunlight.

"Hope you're not afraid of heights." Susan grinned, coming up next to me. I looked at her incredulously: "Are you serious? I'm a daughter of the Sun god; I'm supposed to love heights!"

So, according to Dakota, and an interrupting Octavian, the Fifth Cohort was supposed to travel with the eagles, as the fastest and most accurate way to track down ArgoⅡ．But since there was only about fifteen eagles and about 20 campers, a huge chariot was added. Dakota assigned his legionnaires to eagles quickly, instructing me to the chariot as I had never done any "flying training" before. In the chariot also, was Dakota himself, Bobby (because he was scared of heights) and a few others who I still couldn't recognize. Oh, forgot to mention, the ultimate brat Octavian butted in too. Mostly to keep a closer eye on me, I bet.

"So…how are we supposed to know where the Greeks have headed?" I asked Bobby, trying to break the ice between us. Since we were going to be in the same chariot for the rest of the task, I figured we'd better be in at least talking terms.

Bobby shrugged, shifting his armor over his purple camp shirt. "Our eagles are excellent trackers. They can catch scent of monsters and demigods alike."

I raised my eyebrows, "Cool." Silence fell again. I hated the awkward feeling. In the past, I never felt uncomfortable for the reason of no conversation. Even if no one else would talk to me, I could always talk to July. Suddenly, I found myself wishing for Landyn to be here. He could make everything lighter. He would cheer me up, like those times in the Underworld. Angry for no special reason, I turned away from Bobby, determined not to try making him to talk with me any more.

Eventually, everyone was ready. Dakota climbed in the chariot at last and yelled: "Cohort Five, set off!"

Instantly, demigods with the eagles cried out commands and the eagles buffeted their golden wings, creating wind storms so huge I felt I was going to be blown off the cart. The eagles rose into the air, each with a demigod clutched in their huge claws. I didn't think it would feel really comfortable, to be holding onto a cage made of claws. Not before long, our charioteers, the other two guys whose names I didn't know yet urged our eagle into the air too. With a lurch, the chariot shot into the sky, almost making me tumble out if it wasn't for Dakota's strong grip on my backpack. Octavian made a squeaking sound like a strangled mouse and grabbed Bobby to steady himself.

Once we were steady in the blues, I was captivated by the sensation of flying. We were soaring smoothly across the crystal blue sky, with the warm sun blazing over head. Holding my hand up to block the sun, I remembered that my father drove the Sun Chariot over the world like this very day. Now, I could totally understand why Dad could have stuck to this job for several millennia.

"Where are we heading?" I had to shout to be heard over the winds.

Dakota looked back and said: "From what I can see now, we're passing the Central California valley. I can't really know where the eagles are taking us since no one can understand bird language, of course."

"I'm guessing the Great Salt Lake." The charioteer with deep tan and buzz-cut black hair said. "The ship should be suffering serious damage, last I've seen it, so the Greeks will need supplies to fix it. The nearest location where there are materials demigods need to build stuff is the Great Salt Lake."

I couldn't help exclaiming: "Wow. With only one look, you can make such an educated guess? That's awesome."

The other charioteer, who was dark skinned and curly haired, piped up too. "It's not so awesome, really. He's Rick, son of Vulcan. Fixing and building is in his blood. You're the new girl, right? June…something."

"Loras." I offered.

"Loras." He grinned sheepishly. "Welcome to the Legion. I'm Howard. My Dad is Mercury."

"Oh! So you're Susan's half brother!" I nodded. I wondered if there were any other children of Apollo in the Cohort. Even thought they would be Roman and I was Greek, it would still be nice to have pretend half-siblings. In the dream I had about Camp Half-blood, I had quite a few of Greek half-siblings waiting for me there.

"Are all the friendly greeting over yet?" Octavian sneered. "We're slowing down. Competent Roman soldiers should be now getting ready."

I glared at him but didn't respond. There's no use talking sense to him. Instead, I peered over the chariot. He was right. We were gliding over a beautiful lake that reflected like a silver mirror. Some way ahead of us was a small island with a salt-white shoreline. Our chariot was ahead of most of the other eagles, diving down into the small town on the island.

We found an empty football field to land in. After all the demigods were assembled on the ground in front of our chariot, Dakota boomed: "It's not certain whether our targets are here or not. I and the others in the chariot will scout the town. All the others, circle the island in air and watch out for disruptions."

The other eagles took off again with their poor handlers holding onto their claws again. Dakota decided we should spread out so we split in three groups. Howard and Rick went together, Dakota took Octavian and I was left with no other but Bobby. I groaned inwardly but there was no choice.

The two of us wandered in the town, passing mortals going on with their daily activities, blissfully ignorant to neither the second Giants War nor the second Civil War. No words were exchanged between us. We just walked on, looking around for suspicious teenagers and attracting stares with our matching Camp Jupiter mission outfits.

It was when we were passing a roof repairing shop that Bobby suddenly pulled me back by my backpack shoulder straps.

"Shhh! Look!" He hissed, hiding besides the store exit, motioning me to follow suit. If it was me to say, I thought hiding was no use because his red hair was a natural signal flare. But still, I stepped back and peered into the store. My heart missed a beat when I saw a familiar tall slender guy with wind swept black hair at the counter talking to the storekeeper.

"Percy Jackson." I whispered. I couldn't believe our luck.

Bobby nodded, wiping sweat from his brows. "And Frank. The Camp Half-blood girl is there too."

Indeed, besides the son of Poseidon, a big Asian guy and a pretty blond girl inspected buckets of steaming sticky black goo.

Bobby explained: "That's tar, I think. It's for the ship. I guess Rick was right."

I nodded. But what I was really thinking was: I'm so _not _going to attack them. They hadn't really done anything wrong. And Leo didn't fire on New Rome on purpose, as I had seen it with my own eyes. But if they were caught, according to Camp Jupiter's rules, they are bound to suffer an excruciating punish.

I was pulled back to reality when Bobby said: "Ok, I think I can control the racks." The buckets of tar were stacked neatly on a display rack made of wood. "While I stall them, alert the eagle." We were all given a golden whistle whose sound will notify the eagles of our position. "He will take Dakota and the others here. There should be other Greeks, but we can't risk letting these getting away."

"No! Wait…" I started. But it was too late. Bobby was already concentrating on the wood. I watched in horror as the rack started to tremble and shake behind the three unnoticing demigods. _Whoosh! _The rack burst into thick plant stems, sending the buckets of tar flying into the air, spraying the stinking goo all over the place. Annabeth screamed, jumping aside to avoid the tar rain, but a chunk still hit a patch of her hair. Percy and Frank whirled around, each getting a full embrace of tar on the chest.

"Ow! Ow！Hot!" Percy yelped as he swiped away as much tar as he could.

"Tar monster!" The baby-faced Asian cried out in horror.

I had no time to see how our "targets" were fighting with Bobby's live tar bucket rack. Bobby had noticed I wasn't using the whistle, which was hanging around my neck, as I was supposed to.

"What are you doing? Call the eagles!" Bobby urged, at the same time trying to stay out of sight.

I shook my head violently, clutching the golden whistle so hard the cold metal cut into my palm. I had to think up a plan. And fast, before Percy and the others realize it was not a "tar monster" and find us. I didn't know whether it was because of the chaos inside the shop or the fact that I had been pushing the limits of my lying ability, I couldn't find any excuses.

"Hurry!" Bobby forced through clenched teeth, his face reddening in the attempt to keep his wood creation functioning. "What's wrong with you?"

I drew a shaky breath. There was only the last straw left. I fought down tears and said: "I can't."

"What? Why?"

"Because I'm one of them."

Bobby's expression was of pure shock. His concentration broke and the wooden racks shuddered to a stop, much to the astonishment of the demigods inside. Bobby stared at me wordlessly. I pulled him behind a huge advertisement board to hide as Percy ran out of the shop lugging a full bucket of tar he saved from the remains. The other two sprinted after him, calling out apologies to the bewildered store keeper and anxious to escape in case of the resurrection of the tar monster.

Bobby seemed confused. Subconsciously, he pulled out his whistle to blow. I pushed it down and looked him in the eye. "I'm sorry. But I can't attack the Greeks."

The uncertain mist in Bobby's eyes finally cleared away to reveal his anger. "What are you talking about? It was a chance in a million! We could've caught the traitors! We could've really done something great!"

I felt I was being punched. Bobby was just trying to follow our task, trying to avenge his camp, trying to bring honor back to New Rome, but I ruined everything for him. I knew it was time to spit out the truth. I owed it to him.

"Listen, Bob." I said, keeping my voice level. "All of this, ArgoⅡ attacking, me showing up at Camp Jupiter, it's all a mistake."

Bobby's eyes narrowed in suspicion. But I pushed on: "Leo didn't attack the city on purpose. He was possessed. I was there and I saw everything."

He widened his eyes but still had his guard on.

"Do you really think the Greeks are all bad guys? Are you convinced they would attack Camp Jupiter just because the two camps follow different aspects of the gods? This isn't right. The Giants War has started, and demigods should reunite to win this war."

"But how do you know?" Bobby finally spoke, arguing. "You're not them. Who knows what the Greeks are planning!"

I sighed. "I've never been to Camp Half-blood. Yes, that's the truth. But I'm Greek. That's the truth too." I paused, watching Bobby's face.

The color had drained out of his usually red face. "You…You are a spy!"

"No. I'm not a spy. I have no previous contact with Camp Half-blood before speaking with Percy."

But Bobby was so panicked he wasn't really listening. He stuttered, looking utterly lost: "I should report you to Octavian! His guess was right! I should…"

"You should shut up and listen!" I snapped, patience running thin. "Trust me! Camp Half-blood wants war no more than you do. As I said, they were set up. I think Gaea did this to tear the two forces of demigods apart. As the Great Prophecy goes…"

"You know the great prophecy?"

"Yeah, but as I was saying, the Great Prophecy indicates that we will never win this if the two camp don't unite. We can't war on each other. Don't you understand?" I finished exasperatedly, hoping with all my might that Bobby could see some sense.

Frowning, he remained silent for some time. At last he said softly, "So…why didn't you tell anyone?"

I almost cried in relief. He's starting to understand. "Because no one would believe me. If Octavian hears me, he's make me a conspirator. I'll be probably killed and Camp Jupiter will still war on Camp Half-blood."

After another period of silence, He said: "I believe you."

"Really?" I couldn't believe my ears.

"Yes. You don't seem like that kind of people who would want the end of the world. I'm sorry I doubted you." Bobby looked down, playing with the hem of his shirt.

I couldn't help breaking into a smile. "Thanks Bobby. I'm sorry I lied."

"Nah. I wouldn't dare tell the truth too if I were you. Just know I'm your friend, Ok? I'll help you out. But, one last thing: Can you tell me why you're so sure Camp Half-blood isn't really full of lunatics that don't care about Gaea destroying the world?"

I smiled. That was easy. "Before I came here, I was questing with three other people. The quest leader is from Camp Half-blood and I trust him."

"You were _questing? _Then where are the other guys?"

"Two of them are at Camp Half-blood right now. The other, our quest leader, he's… well, Percy's going to save him."

Bobby looked confused, but that was all what I can say.

"Oh damn. It's past the time to meet up. We have to hurry. I hope Dakota won't get too angry." Bobby checked his watch. He ducked out of the advertisement board and started to run, gesturing me to follow. "Come on!"

I grinned and ran after him. It felt good to tell the truth again.

**So… what do you think? I just love to create plots for my characters to participate in the original story but still remain unseen or unheard of so it doesn't contradict with the original povs!**

**-A-**


	13. Chapter 11 July

**Chapter 11, one week late. Sorry, guys! This is also going to be a little shorter than usual. Please don't hate me! We're on a short 3-day vacation that will end tomorrow; school will start again the tomorrow, April 7****th****, which is our birthday. Yeah, rotten luck, huh? Anyway, Amber and I celebrated it early the day before yesterday. It's a tradition that we go out to have fun for our birthday, just the two of us. It was so much fun! Anyway, can you guess out how old we are turning? :)**

**Enjoy the Chap!**

**Disclaimer: Landyn Green and the Loras twins and their families are ours. The amazing plots (Okay, they're not that amazing. Otherwise I'd have at least 100 reviews) are ours. The rest belongs to old Rick (Rick Riordan. Why am I typing this? You all know who I am talking about).**

**-Hazel-**

Chapter 11 July

"Landyn!" I cried in horror as he fell to the floor with a dull thud. I started to run to him, but Polyphemus stepped in between us.

"You're next." The Cyclopes boomed. Although he was blind, I didn't think it made him less able to kill me. I gulped and backed up slowly.

Grover chose this moment to stir and wake.

"Ughhh, food." He moaned and his eyes opened a crack. However, when he saw Polyphemus, he squeaked and passed out again.

"Oh _no_, Grover! Wake up!" I groaned. I wanted to bend down and slap the useless satyr but my enemy was advancing. I cursed and dove behind another out of use truck just a second before Polyphemus swung his club at where my head was hard. I decided I really hated large things.

"Grover, wake _up_!" I screamed again, knowing that it would expose my location. But if the satyr continued to lie motionlessly on the ground like that, he was likely to get trampled into a goat-meat patty. The Cyclopes caught on my voice and turned to where I was hiding. He swatted the truck away as if it was a toy and lunged at me. I dropped to the ground and rolled between his legs, getting up behind him. He lost his balance and crashed to the ground.

He roared in irritation and bellowed: "Where are you, my appetizer? Come out and face me like a man!"

"Except I'm not a man!" I yelled as I shot an arrow at his bum, which made him howl and spin around looking angrier than ever. Then I shot a heavy-tipped arrow far to the other side of the parking lot, knocking down some large empty metal barrels. Just as I expected, Polyphemus ran to where the noise came from, his thundering steps making the floor shake slightly. Taking the chance I hurried to Landyn's limp form on the ground.

"You're gonna be okay." I muttered to the unconscious son of Aphrodite, more like assuring myself. To my relief, Landyn wasn't too badly hurt, aside from the huge nasty bump on his head where he caught the blow. It was turning purple and getting as big as an egg. It was a miracle there was no blood. I put my hand above the swell and whispered a healing spell. My eyes flickered towards where I had distracted Polyphemus to frequently. I had to be fast, I didn't know how long the trick could last.

"Where are you, demigod? Stop playing hide-and-seek!" Polyphemus cried. He was heading back this way, I observed. Though the bump on Landyn's head was almost all better, but he was still dead passed out. Cursing lightly, I stood up again and felt a second of dizziness. Healing with magic consumed a lot of energy. I suddenly recalled how drained Nico would get after calling upon dead armies. Shaking the distracting thought away I started to run away from Landyn and Grover.

"I'm not hiding! You're just too stupid to know where I am, mango-loving oaf!" I was sure the insults sounded stupid, but they ignited the monster anyway.

Polyphemus turned and charged in my direction. "I won't let you get away this time! Why even try? Just let me eat you; it's much easier."

"Not a chance!" I called loudly. And then, I did the trick again. I let loose a special arrow that could sprout long grappling hands and a few old shopping carts crashed into each other.

The Cyclopes must have a really low IQ, because he actually fell for it again. "There you are!" He yelled triumphantly and changed course once again. I raised my eyebrows and shook my head in disbelief. But I was not complaining; wasting no time, I ran back to the still out cold duo. This time, I knelt down beside the satyr. Since I couldn't shout, I grabbed his shoulders and shook him violently. His eyes fluttered but didn't open.

"Wake up, Grover!" I hissed, seriously considering slapping him. But that would make too big a sound. Pity. However, no matter how hard I shook him, Grover just refused to come around. Finally, I lost patience and jabbed him hard in the stomach. Good news: Grover's eyes flew open. Bad news: His mouth opened too, and let out a loud cry.

"What was that for?" He complained, and then asked in a scared tone, backing away from me. "Who are you?"

Before I could answer, Polyphemus came running at us again. "My goat is up? Is demigod there too?"

Grover immediately started to whimper, eyes wide open and filled with fear.

"No time to explain. Get up, Grover. Help me move Landyn and we have to find a better hiding place. Or we'll all be dead." I urged.

"But…but I'm tied up!" Grover protested.

"Idiot! I already cut your bonds!" I pointed exasperatedly.

"Oh." He actually looked a bit disappointed. "Why did you do that? Why do you know my name anyway?"

_Is this coward the great Wild God Grover that Juniper liked? _I thought to myself.

"To save you, of course. No time to explain." I said impatiently and pulled him up to his feet. To my relief, when I rushed to Landyn to drag him to a safer place, Grover followed suit. Together, we ran as fast as we could with Landyn between us.

"Faster!" I urged quietly. Polyphemus was gaining on us. The only things that were slowing him down were the cement pillars here and there. He crashed into them every few minutes, howling and cursing.

"Where do we go?" Grover asked in a hushed voice.

"I don't know. Far enough so he can't hear us…above?" I said.

"Ok, let's go above ground. At least it would be noisier." Grover agreed. So we started to drag Landyn towards the slope that led to the outside world.

We were half-way up the slope when suddenly, a familiar voice called out.

"Where are you? I've been looking for you for a long time!" It called, sounding worried.

Grover bleated and whispered loudly: "That's your voice!" It sounded the same, but I knew it wasn't my voice. It was June's.

Instantly, all I could think of was my twin. She got away from the Roman troop somehow and now she'd come to find me. I had to let her know where I was; I just _had_ to see her.

"June!" I called, trying hard not to cry. "I'm here!"

"No!" Grover covered my mouth with his free hand. But it was too late. The great Cyclopes suddenly appeared behind us.

"So here you are." Polyphemus crooned in such a low voice that I felt a tremor.

"No! Where's June? Where is she?" I cried in horror. "What did you do to her?" I let go of Landyn and nearly fell to the ground myself.

"Oof!" Grover cried and he tried to support the still out cold Landyn on his own. "Girl, it was a trick." He said with difficulty. "That 'June', who sounds just like you to me, was never here."

"No…how can that be…" I murmured, eyes widening with dread. I had fallen for the trick that led to Landyn getting knocked out.

"Hahahaha! Foolish demigod!" Polyphemus roared with laughter. "You gave me quite a work-out! Now I am very, very hungry." The last sentence was said in a low rumble in the throat that sent chills down my spine. Then he reached out his massive meaty hands towards me.

"Run, I-don't-know-your-name!" Grover yelled as he dragged Landyn to one side. But I was paralyzed. In a blink, I found myself hanging upside down by my ankle. I screamed and pulled out my dagger, slashing in crazily at the Cyclopes arm.

"Ow, that hurts." Polyphemus said unhappily. But the attacks seemed harmless. With a swipe of his other hand, my dagger fell to the floor.

"Usually I like to cooked food, but my stomach has been empty for too long. It's just an appetizer anyway. I'll cook the satyr extra good to make up for it." Polyphemus said to himself and then addressed to me: "It all ends now."

I glanced at the light at the top of the slope I never got to reach and thought pathetically: _I'm going to die_. I realized that I had always relied on the help of my friends, June, Landyn or Nico. But there was no one here for me this time. I closed my eyes and tried not to think about the stench that was coming out from Polyphemus' enormous mouth.

"No!" Grover cried. My eyes flew open. There _was _someone. Apparently, Grover had set Landyn aside on the floor and come back for me. Though I had just met him and he didn't even know my name, he was willing to save me. I scolded myself for thinking of defeat so easily. I didn't know how he did it, since I was held nearly ten feet off the ground, but Grover jumped and clinged onto Polyphemus' arm. The extra weight almost caused the Cyclopes to drop me and I screamed.

"Get off, satyr! I'll eat you later!" The Cyclopes growled and shook his arm violently, swinging Grover and me around, which made me want to throw up. But my mind was clearer.

"Grover, can't you use your super Pan power? How does the Panic work?" I cried, trying to avoid biting my tongue.

Grover's struggling went slack, but he still hung onto Polyphemus' arm, weighing it down. "I…I can't. I don't know why, but I can't do it anymore." His voice quivered.

"What? That's nonsense!" I protested. It was our last hope and he dared say he couldn't do it? The satyr must be joking!

But Polyphemus said: "Yes, that's right. You can't use the power of Pan because you are worthless, weak and cowardly. That's why that son of the sea god and the daughter of the wisdom goddess never came to your rescue. They don't care about you. You are forgotten by your friends. Haven't I told you before? Haven't your friends told you?" He sneered. Grover lost his grip and fell sprawled on the ground. His shoulders slumped and his brown eyes diluted.

"Hahahaha!" Polyphemus roared. "That's right! Find your rightful place at my feet!"

"That's not true! Don't listen to him!" I shouted. As far as I was concerned, Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase weren't those kinds of people who would refuse to help their friend. At least that was what I assumed, from all the times I had heard about them. Polyphemus must have mimicked their voices to discourage Grover. And it worked, because the poor Satyr completely lost faith in himself. I could almost be sure that that was why he couldn't use his awesome power of the Wild God.

"Percy and Annabeth would _never _give up on you! That stupid mountain of flabby meat was tricking you, just as he tricked me and my friend! I don't think you're worthless or cowardly!" I said earnestly. Grover lifted his head and looked at me, the shadow of self-doubt still in his eyes.

"If it was not for you, I'd be dead by now, Landyn too. Get up, Grover, stand up to him! Polyphemus is just an overlarge heap of dumbness! You are so much more powerful!" I rattled on, desperately trying to boost the satyr's confidence.

"Enough talking!" Polyphemus bellowed. "A coward is a coward. Save your breath, demigod. You're going in my stomach anyway." As he said it, he raised me higher in the air, until my head was level to his mouth.

"No! Grover, help!" I cried, panic, not _the Panic_, erupted in my chest. "Juniper had been running around the world looking for you! Camp Half-blood needs you! Please, you can do it!" I was on the verge of tears, and being hung upside was not making talking easier. Grover stared at me with wide eyes. Polyphemus opened his enormous mouth. I closed my eyes.

"Stop."

My eyes flew open. And stupidly, Polyphemus stopped sending me towards his mouth. We both stared at Grover in wonder. Me, at least. But I was sure the Cyclopes would be staring to if he wasn't blind. Grover was standing, his face no longer showing fear, but determination, jaws set and eyes hard.

"Put the girl down." He demanded.

Polyphemus burst out laughing. "Or what? You can't do anything to stop me."

"Yes, I can. And I'm going to do it now." Grover said with a surprisingly steady voice. "Don't say I haven't warned you."

What happened next I couldn't understand even long after. I saw Grover open his mouth and let out the most horrible sound I've ever heard. There was no way to describe it. _So that's what pure fear sounds like_. I thought numbly. And suddenly, I found myself free-falling to the ground. Before my head could hit the floor and crack open, Grover caught me and put me safely on my feet. Polyphemus was wailing and running as fast as he could away from us.

I stumbled and the satyr steadied me. I couldn't help it; I gaped at him. Grover blushed under my stare.

"Holy Hades, Grover." I managed to say. "That was _something_." I punched him on the shoulder and he grinned sheepishly.

Just then, a groan came from a side. Landyn stirred and propped himself up on the elbow. "What…what happened?" He said groggily. I exchanged glances with Grover and we ran to Landyn together.

"Great time to wake up, Green." I smirked.

"You okay?" Grover asked kindly.

Landyn nodded uncertainly. "I think so…where's the Cyclopes?"

"Scared away." I informed.

"What?" Landyn blinked as if he heard wrong.

"Yup. Scared away by Grover and his horrible singing voice." I said solemnly as Grover pulled Landyn to his feet.

"Hey, that's not true!" Grover protested.

I grinned and corrected myself: "No. Grover used his awesome power inherited from Pan and scared away Polyphemus and saved us all."

"Thanks man." Landyn said, impressed and then added in regret, "Oh gods, I'm so embarrassed. I was so stupid! Who would get knocked out when their friends need them?"

I wasn't expecting it, but I felt a pang in my heart at the words. "Me." I muttered in a tiny voice, the relief and joy of surviving suddenly gone. It worked out this time, I mean, Landyn was knocked out but we defeated enemy in the end anyway. But last time, it was me who passed out, and the results weren't good. Unconsciously, my hand reached over my shoulder and touched the place where my scar was. Fortunately, Grover and Landyn were talking, so they didn't hear or see my expression. I shook my head and arranged my face back to a smiley face. Self-pitying and diffidence would not help me get anyway; I just saw the perfect example.

"Well, all of that is past. We probably should get going. Juniper is dying to have you back." I said brightly. Grover agreed but Landyn watched my face curiously. I turned away quickly. So the three of us started climbing up the slope to the outside world.

_Finally. _I thought. _Wait for me, June. I'm going to find you right away._

**Poor Grover. How did you think I captured him? Is it okay? I've always like the satyr. And I am quite disappointed that he did not appear much in the HoO series, especially the Mark of Athena. I mean, he is one of the important roles from the start. He's Percy's best friend! Anyway, R&R plz! I'll regard your reviews as a birthday present for us! Goodie bags for the lovely readers who review! **

**-Hazel-**


	14. Chapter 12 Landyn

**Hi guys! I'm terribly sorry I delayed for so long! I was having another monthly exam again and I was preparing the second issue of my English school magazine. I was also busy practicing our class's English drama for the school's drama contest. Guess what? I wrote our script! It was based on The Tale of the Three Brothers of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows! There were originally no dialogues, so I made them all up! And guess what again? I'm gonna play the part of Death! Cool, eh?**

**Anyway, I'm going off-topics. This is chapter 12. Enjoy!**

**-Amber-**

**Disclaimer: The Percy Jackson series and the HoO series don't belong to me. **

Chapter 12 Landyn

_It was an accident, I swear. I would never get knocked out again when we meet a monster. It was just bad luck and I got careless, that's all._ But no matter how many times I repeated the words, I still felt like a loser. Cyclopes can imitate voices; everyone knows that! And I just had to fall for it and end up sleeping through the whole battle. How could I fall for such an obvious trick? I kicked a rock and brought up dust on the ground. We had just climbed out from the underground parking lot. I sensed the eyes of the satyr on me and turned my face away. Maybe it was because I could read expressions myself, I had the feeling that Grover could too. A second later, I felt his gaze leaving me and let out a breath.

"Hey, Landyn. What are we going to do next? I want to dump the goat and go look for June right now." July tugged at my sleeve and whispered. "But Grover wants to find a restaurant." She looked over her shoulder to where the satyr was crouching down and groping around in a small patch of weeds.

I paused, contemplating the situation. Of course I wanted to follow July's blunt plan, but I couldn't see how it would work. Yeah, we found and saved Grover, but that didn't make us super human detectors. Without any clues, we would just be wandering about, wasting time and risking being exiled from Camp Half-blood. July looked at me expectantly.

Before I made up my mind, Grover stood up and brushed the dirt off his baggy jeans: "All right, there're no monsters around here…even though there is something…never mind. Let's go find a restaurant now!"

July stared at him and then at the clump of yellow grass he was examining. "You knew that by looking at weeds?"

"Uh-huh. It's a basic tracking method for satyrs." Grover said seriously. But he was obviously not so patient when it comes to food. "Are we going to eat or not? I'm starving!"

I exchanged a glance with July. If the satyr could track monsters, there was a good chance that he could track demigods too.

"Of course. Let's go. I think there's a Burger King somewhere near here." July assured him and started to lead the way.

Though I highly doubted she would know the way and even if she did, she would still have trouble following it, I seized the opportunity and struck up a conversation with the goat.

"So, that was a cool trick." I smiled.

Grover beamed at me. "You think so? The other demigods never appreciated it much."

I shrugged: "Their loss. Anyway, if you can track monsters, can you do the same to demigods?"

"Well, not really." Grover adjusted the crumpled cap that hid his little horns on his head. "I can track different sorts of magic and powers, so I'm also able to detect if there're demigods around, but I can't distinguish them. Speaking of that…when I was detecting if there were monsters around, I sensed a pack of demigod power."

"What? Really?" My heart missed a beat. Had the Romans already arrived?

Grover's eyebrows furrowed. "I'm not sure of their location as it seems too far—out of the scope of my tracking spell, but one thing is for sure: it must be a big crowd, or else I wouldn't have detected their power from such a distance."

July was listening intently too. I realized we had stopped in the middle of the road.

"But it might just be a Camp Half-blood scout team." Grover abruptly brightened up, as if the matter was settled. "Why are we stopping? Where's Burger King? I haven't eaten for days!"

July blinked in surprise but soon enough, her face darkened dangerously. I quickly placed a hand on her shoulder and pulled her back. "Whoa, calm down. Grover doesn't know we're looking for June, heck, he probably doesn't even know Camp Jupiter is warring on us. Let me do the talking, all right?"

I looked into her light blue eyes, trying to read her thoughts through them. July's clenched fists lowered. She lowered her head, but not quick enough to hide the flash of tears in her eyes. I sighed and gave her a small squeeze before approaching Grover.

"Hey, bud. How much do you know of the circumstances now?" I asked casually, putting on my sunglasses—we had veered into a more crowded street.

Grover made sure his sneakers were fit on well, also apprehensive that someone would see through his disguise. "To be honest, not much. I haven't been in touch with Camp since…what, a month ago? And you know the nature spirits aren't really concerned with the affairs of demigods. Did anything happen?"

I took a deep breath and said: "Of course. We're preparing for war now."

Grover looked around for Burger King indifferent: "I meant anything that I didn't know. We've been preparing for the giants war since a long time ago."

"No, I meant a war between demigods. Camp Jupiter has declared war on us because Argo II 's plan went really, really wrong."

"What?" Grover gasped, jerking into a stop. "Then what happened to Percy, Annabeth and the others? Are they killed?" His pupils had dilated into huge quarters, with tears gathering around the rim.

"No, no." I patted him hurriedly. "They've escaped. The Seven are now on a quest to Rome. But the Romans are targeting us now. And that means…"

"The power of a large crowd of demigods is mostly likely theirs. The Romans are already near." July finished my sentence, watching Grover carefully. I could see she was trying to decide what to think of the seems-to-be-selfish satyr that also saved our lives.

"Oh Zeus." Grover groaned, covering his eyes with a hand. "I can't believe I've missed out so much! Then we must go back to camp and tell Chiron about my tracking results immediately!" He turned and blindly started walking in the opposite direction of the Burger King that we had just spotted.

I caught July's eyes and gave her an assuring grin. _See, Grover is just as loyal and selfless as any other demigod. _

July returned a small smile and whispered: "So he doesn't think about eating all the time, after all. I was just…"

"I know." There was no need for her to say it. She was just angered because as we were so desperately trying to look for June, someone could just indifferently search for food , caring about nothing else.

"Hey, Grover!" July caught up with the satyr. "Don't you want to have something to eat first? We could always I-M Chiron."

Grover stopped and contemplated for a while before sighing and heading back towards the fast food restaurant, with the two of us flanking him.

As we settled down with our burgers and drinks, July and Grover were already chatting and comparing funny experiences like a pair of old friends. I, on the other hand, was trying to think of a way to find June between half-hearted comments to whatever they asked me.

"Hey, you know how troops always sent scouts to check out the enemy out beforehand?" I said finally, trying to look casual. July looked at me and considering the way her eyes widened, she understood what I was trying to say.

Grover narrowed his eyes slightly in thought, chomping on French fries. "You mean…scouts to estimate the enemy's power so they can come up with the most suitable strategy?"

"Exactly."

"So what about it?" the goat said, apparently not getting my point.

"Well…" July cut in nervously, glancing at me. "We were wondering if Camp Half-blood should do the same."

"Yeah, you know, send some demigods to check out the Romans and see what they've got. I'm sure it would be a great help." I added.

Grover frowned, taking in our words. At last, he nodded in agreement. "I guess so, if Camp Jupiter is really going to fight us."

"Let's tell Chiron about it. We have to Iris Message him anyway." July decided cheerfully. I smiled inwardly too. This could be a great chance for us to find June—we would tell Chiron about Grover's tracking results and propose our plan to send scouts, or more precisely, send _us_ as scouts to spy on the Romans. _You're such a genius_, I lauded myself secretly.

xxx

"Scouts?" Chiron said, a little crease forming between his brows.

We nodded in union.

The old horse man sighed, "Actually, I've been thinking about that too. But we haven't decided yet. It's too dangerous, for even the most skilled demigods. We know too little about Camp Jupiter and none of you children have the experience of opposing a Roman soldier. And you won't like it when you do."

"But scouts aren't supposed to fight with the enemy face-on. They _spy _in _secrecy_. Isn't that the point?" I argued. The sinking feeling that Chiron wouldn't agree to our plan was so overwhelming my stomach seemed to be dragged to the ground.

"We have Grover to help us detect them." July cried out too, "And according to Rebecca, Jason said that the Romans don't think highly of satyrs enough to make use of their power. It's an advantage we shouldn't let waste!"

"Wa-wait!" Grover cut in, his eyes wide, "Have _Grover _to help…? Since when was I involved in being the scouts?"

Chiron frowned too, "Are you inferring that you plan to go?"

July reacted quickly enough. "No, of course not. I just thought the leader of the satyrs should be obligated to help out."

Chiron studied us through the misty rainbow with scrutinizing eyes. I slightly regretted taking off my sunglasses, as his gaze bored straight into mine.

I looked back at him calmly. "About who should go, I in fact do think we could be the scouts."

Grover gawked at me while July stared at me like I was crazy tp give away our plan like that. Chiron pursed his lips.

"We're out of camp already, and we're new. We are practically totally devoid of the kind of demigod demeanor and temperament of seasoned half-bloods. We're less likely to be found out than the other campers." The ridiculous reasons were just popping out of my mouth, with almost no process of passing through my mind. I hoped it sounded rational enough.

July shook herself out of her daze too. "Plus, if you think we're not good enough, look at Grover here. We've just succeeded in rescuing him."

Chiron remained silent for the longest time ever. I felt like I was waiting for a sentence that would decide whether I get life-imprisonment or immediate execution. At last, Chiron lifted his head and said: "I'm sorry, but I don't allow it. Come back to camp right away. No delays or you'll be exiled from the grounds of Camp Half-blood."

"What!" July screeched. I stared at him numbly, too shocked to say anything. Chiron looked at us sadly, the way he did after the counselors' meeting, when he told us about Nico's condition. He had seen right through us, not that I hadn't expected it. I just didn't think he would stop us from trying to save June after all this—we've already manifested our determination; we've also proved our abilities; we even came up with such perfect reasons why we newbies should be sent as scouts.

Chiron turned to Grover, who looked confused at the situation. "My dear satyr, make sure to escort them back, OK? Then be prepared to set off with the scout team I'll form soon."

"But why? We're totally capable of doing this!" July protested but Chiron waved his hand and the message dissolved.

"Damn!" July dropped to the ground, pressing her eyes hard with her palms. I didn't move, trying to think of a way to fix this all up, but it was like swimming in outer space-I couldn't get anywhere.

"Hey-hey" Grover said softly, crouching down and patting July soothingly, "What's all this about? I know you guys are hiding something from me. But don't get all discouraged. Chiron would never do anything to harm you. He must have his reasons."

"Yeah, he does, of course." I replied, unable to keep the bitterness from my voice, "He's protecting us while letting June be trapped in the hands of the Romans!"

"Who is this June?" Grover asked, "Whenever one of you mentions her, the emotions of both of you get so aroused."

July gave a violent shake, burying her head further into her arms. I looked away.

"She's my sister. And she's in Camp Jupiter, probably in one of the Roman troops that are going to war on us. If she exposes her identity, they won't let her go easily." July's voice came out flat and dry. Grover gasped in shock.

"Come on." I leaned down and pulled July up by one arm. I've had enough of it. I didn't come all the way just to be ordered back into the stupid doll house of Aphrodite's cabin. "Hades to Camp Half-blood. I'm going to find her."

July looked at me and after half a heartbeat, nodded in determination. "Camp Half-blood is nothing to me if June can't come to it with me."

"What? You can't do that!" Grover stood up quickly, grabbing my arm before I could leave. "You'll get exiled! Or killed! And you don't know how to do a tracking spell! How are you going to find the Romans anyway? Ask a random monster?"

I gritted my teeth. I knew that of course, but we couldn't just give up. "I don't care! We'll find a way!"

But Grover didn't reply, he stared at me strangely, pupils dilated. "P-Perrrrcy?"

"What?" I started but I realized my eyes must have been doing that stupid trick again. I sighed. "I'm not Percy, Grover. Look again."

Grover blinked and refocused on me. "Oh, sorry. I must have been hit silly by Polyphemus."

"No, it's him." July explained, rather drained out, "He has this ludicrous power to make people see important guys."

"Oh." Grover said. But he was still staring at me with a complicated expression.

I frowned. "You think I'm like him. How?"

"Wha-hey! How do you know what I'm thinking about?"

July rolled her eyes. The familiar expression cheered me up a little unexpectedly. "Mr. Son of Love here also has this ludicrous power to read expressions."

Grover suddenly looked a lot more apprehensively at me. "Wow. I didn't know a kid of Aphrodite could have so many kinds of power. Piper and Drew can charm speak, all the others can look good without trying and you can make people hallucinate and read expressions? You lot just surprise me more and more."

"Not technically make you _hallucinate_…" I muttered, but July pressed on.

"Back to our topic. How is it that Landyn is like Percy Jackson?"

Grover scratched his head, looking down. "That expression. It freakingly resembles the one he wears sometimes. The way you both are willing to do anything to rescue a friend. You're just like him when Annabeth was taken by Atlas."

"Atlas? _That_ Atlas, the one who shoulders the sky?" I couldn't help but distract myself from all the seriously down moods.

Grover nodded. "Long story. Anyway, he defied Camp rules too and followed the quest team in secret."

"Cool. So I break rules like the famous son of Poseidon do. Big deal." I drawled. I couldn't see how this was helping me. It didn't mean I could actually save my friend like Percy did. He was a hero, and me? I'm nothing. Why, I just got fooled the most basic trick of Cyclopes in the world of Greek mythology.

July elbowed me. I looked at her in surprise. She looked at Grover pointedly and whispered: "I think we can convince him to our side."

My eyes widened.

July turned to the satyr and said: "We just want to find June, just like Percy wanted to save Annabeth. You remember how miserable you were back in the parking lot when Polyphemus convinced you that Percy and Annabeth weren't coming to rescue you because they don't care anymore?"

I had no idea where that was coming from. Must be something that happened when I was oh-so-heroically passed out. But I could see she hit a spot. Grover's expression turned mournful instantly.

"Exactly." July exclaimed. "Friends are supposed to be there for each other. Now you know that your friends did care about you and they did want to come to your aid, but does June know the same about us? How could you make us just leave my sister at the enemy's mercy?"

I nodded earnestly, staring intently at the satyr.

Grover seemed to be having an internal battle with himself. July and I waited patiently, occasionally giving a loud sigh to express our disappointment and desperation. In the end, he groaned and said miserably: "All right, all right. I'll help you guys."

"Yes!" I high-fived July and grinned broadly.

"Hey!" Grover glared at us in realization, "You set me up, didn't you? Gods! What have I gotten myself into?"

"No, Grover, we didn't mean to set you up. I'm sorry if we made you feel that way but we're just so glad that you agreed to help us." I slapped his back joyfully, barely able to contain my smile.

"So come on!" July pulled us out of the ally where we had been Iris Messaging Chiron. "Do your weed thing again and locate the Romans!"

"Slow down! You think that doesn't need energy?" Grover protested, quickly pulling on his cap again as we burst into the busy street. "By the way, acorns are better. Are there any acorns around?"

"Jeez, you're picky." I sighed.

"Picky?!" Grover cried indignantly, "_You're_ picky! I'm the only way you're going to have to detect the Romans!"

"Ok, Ok, your highness, we're sorry for insulting your delicate little tricks…"

xxx

"So, those three acorns are us." Grover knelt on the ground between us, pointing at his acorns, "And that twig over there is some kind of common city monster—shouldn't be much of a threat, but we'd better avoid that area. Better safe and sorry, right?"

"Ok. And where is the dense demigod power?" I asked.

Grover pointed at another clump of weeds. "There. Still some distance away so I can't be really specific about their location, but we can start heading that direction."

"Good enough for me."July nodded in appreciation, "And weeds as Camp Jupiter? Perfect metaphor. Suits them just right."

"Whoa. No angry feelings there, Missy." I looked at her warningly. We had agreed that we shouldn't hold ill feelings for the Romans, as this whole "civil war" like thing was most likely a conspiracy plotted of Gaia, the giants and probably a couple of turncoats. The majority of half bloods—including the Roman soldiers—are innocent.

July glared back at me but fell silent.

"So…let's go?" Grover looked at us for affirmation.

"Yeah, man. Onwards!" I held up an imaginary sword and marched towards the direction Grover's tracking spell just showed us.

July quickly caught up, with Grover following closely, still muttering out loud about how he got himself into this mess.

I was pretty content. We were finally on our way in search of June Loras, though things didn't go exactly as we wanted them to.

**Oo-kay…so this chapter is a little short and honestly doesn't say contain much. *hide face in shame* But I promise the next chapter will be better! Please review though, even if only to say you didn't like it.**

**-A-**


	15. Chapter 13 June

**I am so so so so sorry! I've delayed this for too long. There's nothing I can say about my crime. I just hope this chapter can be more like those in Doors of Death: Nico's Double Troubles and less like the lousy ones I recently wrote. Please give me a chance and read it. **

**-Amber—**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Percy Jackson series.**

* * *

Chapter 13 June

Telling Bobby the truth (most of it, anyway) was _really _good for my health. The huge weight on my chest seemed to be lifted—even if by only a little. By the time we finally reached our rendezvous spot, all the others were already there.

"Where were you two idling off?" Octavian made an impatient noise, picking himself up from the bench where he had been sprawling on. "It's 7 minutes later than the agreed time."

"Sorry, we got into…a situation." I apologized quickly, mostly towards Dakota.

"What kind of situation? Why didn't you signal us?" Dakota asked between swigs of his favorite red Kool-Aid, frowning slightly. Rick and Howard, the charioteers, also looked between me and Bobby curiously.

"I know! You met with the _Graecus! _Or the renegades!" Octavian cut in, screeching rambunctiously, "Instead of signaling us so we can catch them all you let them go!"

For a split moment, I though we were doomed—the augur had foreseen our "betrayal", but then, Howard laughed out loud: "You really think so? That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard! Bobby, helping out the renegades? Seriously!"

Rick was snickering behind a disguised cough and Dakota couldn't help smiling too: "That's true. Bobby would be the one to jump off a cliff if the praetor asked him too."

"Hey!" Bobby cried indignantly. "I'm not that stupid!"

"Yeah, stop teasing him! I forgot my sword in the restroom and didn't remember it until we were several blocks away. We had to go back to retrieve it." I piped up, standing up for him as if I never dragged him down in the first place. Octavian looked confused by the sudden change in atmosphere.

"All right, we shouldn't waste more time. We have to set off immediately." Dakota called out, "Our targets must have left already before any of us spot them. We must speed up to catch up."

Everyone turned their attention away from Bobby and me, to my relief, and started to prepare for leave. I let go a breath I had been holding subconsciously and shared a relieved grin with Bobby. He hadn't blown my cover and I was more than grateful.

Soon, we were all set and started to file into the chariot. As I climbed into the golden cart, Octavian approached me quietly and hissed into my ear: "You were lucky you got away this time, but don't think you fooled me."

I was about to retort but Dakota appeared besides us and said, apparently unaware of the situation, "June, Romans are not allowed to be late, and most certainly not allowed to leave their weapons behind in a normal-people-populated area. You're still on probation so you'd better watch out next time."

"Of course, sir!" I replied, straightening dramatically.

Dakota grinned and nodded: "Good. It'd be a pity if you were disqualified to be a member of our Cohort."

I smiled back, ignoring the seething augur behind me, and followed Dakota into the chariot. Not before long, we were back soaring in the air. Dakota blow his golden whistle. The shrill but clear sound ripped through the darkening sky, calling out to the other eagles with the single scouts. A few heartbeats passed and the magnificent beasts swooped into sight. With a few swift body language gestures, Dakota told the scouts whatever they needed to know and the troop set off.

Although all the Roman demigods strained to catch a sight of Argo Ⅱ, by the time the sun set, they were all without accomplishment. Now that the sunlight had faded, our chances of a sight of even merely its shadow were reduced. The thrill of flying faded long ago and I was bone-tired as well as starved. Sneaking a glance at everyone else, I had to feel impressed by Roman loyalty and discipline: Though tiredness were written all over their faces, no one was showing a trace of willingness to stop. Instead, they were all focusing on how to deal with this "serious situation" (for which I am actually grateful). Except for Octavian. That brat prattled around, criticizing everyone's work and blaming them all.

"Yes, Octavian, we'll never stop for a drink of water anymore." Howard sighed, too worn out to explain to the augur that human can die of dehydrating for the tenth time. Octavian "humph"-ed in contempt and satisfaction.

Dakota checked his luminous digital watch once again and declared: "It's past 8:00, too dark to go on and the eagles are worn out too. Let's stop for the night."

"Yes!" Bobby pumped his fist into the air, almost hitting Octavian. The faces of every Roman soldier broke into relieved smiles, in spite of their concern for their task.

"What? No!" Octavian protested. "The traitors' ship won't stop for the night! We'll never catch them if we lose a whole night of perfect time to track them down!"

Smiles slid off immediately. My companions sighed and looked so defeated that I had to speak up. "Are you crazy? Look at the birds! They're barely keeping us aloft! Look at your soldiers! We're all tired. You don't know because you never do anything except for screaming orders!"

Octavian's face turned ugly within a second. "Watch you tongue, Loras, don't forget you're still…"

"Leave it, Octavian." Dakota cut it, his voice low and even, like a bass guitar, which made me instantly guess his patience had reached its limits. Dakota usually never defy Octavian (at least not obviously) as his position of power in Camp Jupiter was a lot lower than his. Octavian apparently acknowledged this too, closing his mouth before a retort burst out. His pale cheeks flushed pink and his eyes flashed but he managed through his teeth: "Fine. Whatever. Just wait till you're sorry that you didn't listen to me."

We cheered so loud that the chariot shook and Dakota's signal whistle could barely be heard over the din. Soon, the single scouts assembled with us and we flew down to a nearby wheat field somewhere in Kansas (because Octavian's augury showed Kansas was important) to rest. Stretching as I got off the chariot I suddenly felt someone tug my arm.

"J-June…" Susan stumbled, gripping my arm for support with a pained expression, "Is there any healing magic you can do to ease the soreness of my poor old battered body?"

I couldn't help laughing at her exaggerated expression while I helped her sit down on the ground, "Of course. Being clutched in the claws of an eagle for a whole day is no comfortable ride, isn't it?"

After having a simple dinner of crackers and juice boxes and arranging the night watch, the Fifth Cohort dissembled and everyone went to find their spot to sleep for the night. As Bobby unfortunately pulled the short straw and was on the first night duty, Susan and I settled down in a little empty patch among the wheat without him. Slowly, I drifted off in the lullaby of crickets and wind singing through the field.

"_Stop bossing me around, June!" A girl with light blue eyes and long blond hair exclaimed, backing away from me. _

_I was standing on gritty black sand, on the shore of a roaring river of flames three stories high._ _My twin sister stood a few feet away from me, glaring at me as if I had something unforgivable. Skeletons and zombies surrounded us. We were trying to demolish them while Nico and Landyn were fighting the twin giants. _

"_I don't boss you around! I was just telling you to watch behind your back for skeletons!" I protested. I didn't know why she was talking about this at a time like this, but it was getting to my nerves._ _Couldn't she see this is not the place to argue over petty things? We could do that anytime after we get out of this safely._

_But July apparently didn't agree. Her lips curled into a sarcastic sneer, she said: "Telling me to watch behind my back? What, you think I'm stupid? I don't need your useless tips. Just leave me alone to do my own things!"_

"_How can you…"I growled, but suddenly, I saw a skeleton approaching me from the right. Turning away from July I shot an arrow at it…except it didn't hit its target. _

_July looked down in surprise at the golden arrow sprouted on her chest. My eyes widened. Somehow, I had shot July, who seconds before was totally not in my shooting range. _

_With difficulty, July pulled the arrow out. Blood spilled out of the hole. "J-June." She gasped in pain, falling to her knees. "W…Why?"_

_I was numb with shock, my brain unable to perceive what my eyes were seeing. Then, I screamed. I had shot my own twin. Throwing down my bow as if it was burning my hand, I scrambled to July, reaching out to her. But—_

_Warm, metallic liquid poured over my hand. My hunting knife had materialized in my hand the split moment I was about to touch July. My hands shook as I released the blade, buried deep into July's body. The pair of azure eyes, identical to mine, clung to my face, conveying millions of words, questions too late to be spoken. _

"_I...I killed her." I muttered, in a daze, "I killed her. It's all my fault…"_

_The truth finally hit in. Somehow, I not only failed to protect July, but also killed her with my own hands. I covered my face and screamed, crumpling to the ground, trying to drown out everything else and make myself believe this was only a dream…A dream._

With a shuddering gasp, I sat up from my make shift bed of straw, ears still ringing with my own piercing scream. Breathing hard I wiped my face: it was dry. Good. At least I hadn't been crying. I curled up and hugged my knees, trying to stop myself from shaking. It was the hallucination Melinoe made me see back at the shore of Phlegethon. I knew it was just an image, but that made it no less scary. Susan shifted and turned besides me. A snort came from the place where Bobby lay, a few feet away from us. I climbed up silently and stayed with whomever that was on watch duty until dawn broke.

At breakfast, Susan watched me eat in concern. "You seem really worn out. Didn't rest well?"

"Yeah." I yawned, rubbing my temples.

"You really look pale. Are you sure you can go on today?" Bobby asked, turning towards me too.

"I'm fine. It's only a headache. It'll go away soon." I replied hurriedly. In fact, I was quite moved by their concern.

"Listen to her, it's only a headache." Octavian sneered, interrupting us as usual, "Roman soldiers don't delay their tasks for petty headaches. Hurry up you three, or I'll assign you to stall cleaning when we return to Camp Jupiter."

I rolled my eyes and ignored him.

With a series of begging and reasoning, I finally got Dakota to agree to let me be a single scout in place of Susan. Susan was grateful to ride the chariot, as she was still aching all over because of yesterday's scouting. Bobby and Octavian weren't pleased though. Bobby because he was convinced I would get lost or fall to my death and Octavian because he couldn't keep a constant eye on me anymore—which was exactly what I wanted. I figured if I ever had the luck to encounter the crew of Argo Ⅱ again, it would be more convenient if I was alone. When everything was packed and set to go, the fields cleaned up and last instructions given out, Susan led me to the eagle I was going to ride with.

"June, Copper. Copper, June." Susan introduced us formally.

I patted the huge bird's glossy feathers rather timidly. I could see why they named this eagle copper—its feathers were hard and shiny, just like copper plates. Strapping on the special vest armor for single scouts, I fidgeted nervously and waited for the signal to set off. I doubled checked the golden whistle hanging around my neck: if I really fall from Copper's claws, I could blow it and if I'm lucky enough, one of the other eagles could catch me.

With one sharp blast of his whistle, Dakota signaled our departure. Large eagles buffeted their wings and rose into the air. Copper's claws clamped around the handles on my protection vest and took off, quickly shooting past the chariot with all my friends in it. My heart beats were so absurdly irregular that I wondered if I was going to get a heart attack. In other words, it was great. Wickedly cool. Absolutely pure thrill.

Copper and I were a great team, I suppose, though I could't really tell. The eagle swooped around in the sky, occasionally dipping dangerously close to the ground when our targets' scents were especially strong. Whenever that happened, I would try my best to look out for billboards or road signs that could help me identify our location. As far as I know, by noon, we were somehow still in Kansas. Considering the distance we covered the last day, I decided we might be having some trouble. Sometime in noon, Copper suddenly perked and changed direction. A few seconds later, I started to see the other single scouts, all heading towards the same place—Dakota had called us for lunch.

As I dropped down to ground, I knew the rest of Cohort Five had no more luck than I did. Everyone looked cast down. I stretched my sour joints, especially my shoulders, and went to join Bobby and Susan for lunch. When Susan was absent to refill her water bottle, Bobby leaned in and whispered, with furtive glances at nearby campers, "Did you find anything? You know, about the Greeks."

"No." I shook my head in defeat, "No more luck than anybody."

Bobby patted me sympathetically, "It's OK, so long as you reach them earlier than the others do."

"And that's not up for me to determine. It depends on my luck and Copper's skills." I said sullenly.

Bobby fell into a pause. At last, he asked: "What would you do if you find them first? They can't possibly take you to Camp Half-blood since they're on a quest leading towards Rome."

I watched him, before answering. His eyes were firmly locked on his juice box. I suddenly realized he probably didn't approve of my plan. But he still supported me. Like a real friend. I pushed down the lump forming in my throat and said: "They'll have a way. Any way would be better than me staying here. Octavian already suspects me so much that he's willing to undertake this tiring task just to spy on me."

"But…" Bobby didn't get to finish his sentence. Octavian materialized in front of us and said with a sneer: "What are the _Graecus _and little Bob talking about? Plotting a conspiracy for Loras to escape?"

From his usual annoying expression, I guessed he didn't over hear anything. He was just being a brat, as usual. I sighed. This was going to be a long afternoon.

xxx

Under the blazing sun, I was soaring in the sky in the claws of Copper again. Thankfully, Copper's huge body and wings prevented me from being roasted alive. The wind brought by Copper's high speed flying also helped keep me cool. I actually quite enjoyed it, especially now that we were flying over large patches of beautiful golden wheat fields. Suddenly, Copper stopped midway, his wings buffeting to keep us in the air.

"What's the matter, Copper?" I asked out loud, though I knew he couldn't answer. I squinted down at the ground beneath us. For a few seconds, I couldn't see anything wrong with the landscape. But slowly, I started to notice traces of an unnatural event that had taken place not long ago. Near a highway patches of field was damaged, wheat bent and soil trodden. I whistled a couple of sharp notes that Susan taught me to signal Copper to let me down. After we descended, I knelt down and examined the fallen wheat and trodden ground.

Would this be it? The clue that would finally lead me to ArgoⅡ? I was practically scraping the ground for something to prove this damage was not made by random mortals but by demigods. But I didn't find anything, except for a trail of hoofs and a trail that looked like a miniature tornado had passed. It was strange enough, but it wasn't solid evidence. It didn't tell me much about what happened to whoever, or whatever, that created this scene. After another half an hour, I gave up looking under ever grain of wheat. Plopping down on the ground under a particularly tall cluster of wheat to block the sun, I pushed my sweaty bangs away from my face. Copper had disappeared into the air about 20 minutes ago. Though he would come back fast enough if I whistle, but I decided to rest some more. I was already quite dizzy from the heat.

I was almost asleep when suddenly the wheat around me swayed and swiped around violently. I bolted up to see a blurry of copper and black. I froze, staring at the scene in front of me speechlessly.

_Are you hallucinating? _I asked myself.

_No, idiot. _

My eyes struggled to follow the swirls of colors in front of me, but finally I realized it was Copper, fighting a black mare with magnificent wings no smaller than Copper's. Though I didn't know how this happened, I knew I have to stop it. The horse gave me a friendly and familiar feeling.

"Stop, Copper!" I yelled. I whistled as loudly as I could, wishing he could hear me over the flapping and wind sounds. Apparently, he didn't. The two animals kept fighting, Copper clawing and the horse kicking.

I whistled again, so hard that I felt my lungs were collapsing with pressure. Tears were forming in my eyes as the horse whined as Copper's razor sharp wings cuffed him and Copper screeched as the horse aimed a well-place kick on his chest.

"Stop! Please!" I whistled again. Such magical creatures shouldn't be hurting each other. Just like Roman demigods and Greek demigods shouldn't be fighting, I realized. That was probably why I was so shaken at seeing Copper and the horse fight. I tried again. Suddenly, Copper jerked to a stop and shot backwards away from the horse, his glinting eyes watching me sort of reproachfully. I sprinted ahead and planted myself in front of the black mare as he started to gallop towards Copper. My arms moved on their on accord, raising in front of me. I squeezed my eyes shut.

I braced myself for the hit. But with a loud whine, a blast of wind hit me straight on. After a few still moments, I opened my eyes tentatively. The sleek black creature stood in front of me, snorting and trotting slightly. He didn't kill me. I was once again wordless, not that I ought to speak to animals. I stared at the beautiful creature. It was tall and lean, with a pure black coat and glossy wide wings. It was a Pegasus, dark like Nico's eyes. I've read about it in the pamphlet Artemis gave us so many months ago and had since wished to one day see one. Though Camp Jupiter was said to have some, but they were only for high officers, like Reyna's stead. Uncertainly, I held out a hand towards the horse. The Pegasus checked me out with an air of a pompous teenage boy. I couldn't help smiling.

"Come, boy, I won't hurt you."

The Pegasus came closer and nuzzled my palm. Then he turned his head away and snorted with his nose in the air. I chuckled. He sort of reminded me of Landyn Green.

"Where are you from?" I asked as I ran my hand down his smooth coat. He looked way too well-groomed to be wild. I looked back and saw Copper glaring and buffeting his wings at the horse. Maybe he's from Camp Half-blood, I thought hopefully. That would explain Copper's animosity.

Speaking my mind out loud, I asked: "Are you from Camp Half-blood? A stead of a Greek demigod?"

The Pegasus looked at me quietly. Something in his large dark eyes made me think he was saying yes. Suddenly something clicked in my memory. I gasped. Didn't Nico say Percy Jackson own a Pegasus… a pure black Pegasus with an astonishing attitude? It made perfect sense. The intelligent and powerful horse seemed exactly like the stead of Percy.

"Do you know Percy Jackson?" I tried. The horse neighed and shook his mane agitatedly, his long legs cantering the ground nervously. "So you do know him! Something happened to him? What's wrong?" I inquired in a soothing voice, trying my best to understand his moves. As far as I could guess, Percy probably met with some kind of problem but the horse couldn't do anything about it. I was seriously considering hopping on the horse and letting it take me to Percy, but Copper screeched behind me.

I turned around and realized probably Copper heard Dakota's signal. If I left and let Copper go back right now, Octavian and all the others would know I had escaped. It would be a sure sign that I _was _a Greek. In addition, maybe Dakota was signaling because someone found the Greek's ship, and I wasn't 100 percent sure the Pegasus could take me to Percy. Caught between two choices, I looked at Copper and back at the horse. Finally, with gritted teeth, I patted the horse and said mournfully: "I'm sorry. I would really like to find Percy with you and help him, but I have to go."

I avoided the horse's intelligent eyes and ran back to Copper, strapping myself into the flying vest again. With a last threatening screech at the black creature, Copper took off. I gazed behind me at the beautiful horse—a chance to reach the Greeks slipped through my fingers again. As I watched, the horse expanded his wide ink black wings and shoot into the air, in the opposite direction of us. I sighed. I had gotten nowhere. And I had to think up of something to explain my delay again. There was no way I was going to tell the Romans about Percy's Pegasus.

* * *

**There you go. Is the action better than the other chapters I did? Please give me some feedback!**

**Oh right, I forgot to tell you guys: This story will be ending in the next few chapters. I'm sorry if this story is not as good as the one before (Nico's Double Troubles). Ah...there are a lot of reasons, but I won't bore you with them. Anyway, I guess we'll not be hearing about the Loras twins any more after this story ends. **

**Thanks for all the support!  
**

**-A-**


	16. Chapter 14 July

Chapter 14 July

As we made our way through the city in the direction Grover's spell indicated, Landyn and I told the satyr all about our quest with Nico, including how we failed and got ourselves separated with my twin. Actually, it was mostly Landyn telling the story; I'd fallen silent just before the Phineas part. Remembering the quest made everything happening around me right now seem unreal. Every time "Nico" or "June" was mentioned, my stomach twisted, along with a sudden pang in the chest. How long had it been since I popped up in Camp Half-blood? Probably less than a week? But it already felt like months; the pain was getting unbearable.

"Hey, Landyn." I said suddenly, "What is the date today?"

Landyn turned away from Grover and replied: "Um, June 29th?" He glanced at Grover for assurance. Grover nodded.

"June 29th." I repeated softly. I wondered whether I could keep my promises to both Mom and Nico. Time was slipping away.

"Why did you ask?" Grover questioned. But I didn't get the chance to answer before he stopped abruptly and looked apprehensively ahead.

"What? What is it?" Landyn frowned. We all squinted at the ahead. There was nothing peculiar, at least in my viewpoint.

"That's strange." Grover muttered, and turned back to us. "Something is wrong with the pack of demigod power…it suddenly sped up and it's moving way too fast. But the power is not so dense anymore, but more spread out."

"Where is it heading?" Landyn said sharply. His eyebrows were furrowed, looking very serious. On the other hand, I was panicking. _What? Did the Romans decide to pick up speed and hit Camp Half-blood with a surprise attack? What about June? What is going to happen to her?_

Grover gazed at the sky, "I think they're traveling by air…towards New York."

"Air?" Now I was really lost.

The satyr nodded. "Maybe they are riding something that can fly. Like the way we ride chariots and Pegasi."

"Wait, if they're heading towards here, isn't that a good thing? I mean, they are pretty far off and it would take us forever to get to June." Landyn said suddenly, eyes widening. My heart leapt. I tried to calm down and think more reasonably, but all I could think was: _June. I am going to see her soon! _

Grover bit his lips. "That's true…but that means war is nearer than we expected. I wonder whether Camp Half-blood is prepared well enough." His large eyes were cast down and his hands were balled.

"Oh, right." Landyn said and fell silent. My heart went cold. Camp Half-blood was in danger, and all I could think about was reuniting with my sister. Shame hit me like a wall. Grover helped us despite that he was dying to return to Camp and Juniper. How could I forget Camp Half-blood? How could I forget Chiron, Rebecca, Will and Rachel? I was so selfish.

"Grover, I'm sorry. I should have thought of that." I apologized. After a second thought, I added earnestly: "Hey, maybe you should go back to Camp first. You've already helped us enough and Camp needs you."

Grover's mouth dropped open. "But…" He started to protest.

"Yo buddy, everything's gonna be fine!" Landyn caught up with my proposal quickly. "Since we know that the Romans are heading here, it won't be hard for us to find them on our own, right? Plus, we really don't want you to get in more trouble." He convinced.

Grover stared at the ground and contemplated. At last, he looked up and said: "Guys, I really appreciate this. I'll go back to Camp now, and maybe I can explain things to Chiron a bit. You two really don't deserve to be exiled."

"And, I especially want to thank you…"

"July." I informed, grinning.

"-July." Grover smiled back. "Thanks for helping me get back on my feet. Now, please try not to be the first two martyrs of this battle, ok?"

"You bet." Landyn said. And with that, Grover turned on his heels, or I should say, "hooves". We watched him disappear at the corner of the street and exchanged glances.

"Well, we must get going too." Landyn said. I nodded and looked at the sky. Between buildings, the sun was dipping low, making sky look like molten gold near the horizon. Night was falling.

xxx

After Grover had gone, Landyn and I discussed our situation. Landyn reckoned that the Romans would have to land and rest for the night. Since they were heading for Camp Half-blood and they were fast, it was likely that they would land in Manhattan.

"With so many of them, they would want to camp out in a big park or something, right?" I thought aloud.

"Uh-huh." Landyn said. "Let's go. This is our chance-our only chance. If they arrive at Manhattan tonight, they are most likely to strike Camp Half-blood tomorrow." I nodded and said nothing. Landyn's eyes were set ahead, burning with determination.

xxx

When we finally got to Manhattan, stars were already blinking above. We decided that the most possible place where we'd find the Romans was Central Park, which was the biggest park in the area. So that was where we went, in full speed.

At the gate of the park, I stopped in my tracks. I looked inside and felt my hand tremble. After so much time, I could hardly believe I was only a couple of miles away from my sister.

"Ah, there you are, July." Landyn suddenly appeared in front of me. "I thought you were kidnapped by some monster! Don't suddenly zone out like that, ok?" I nodded and gulped, following Landyn closely.

After we entered the park, I looked around anxiously for any sign of suspicious teenagers that looked prepared for war, which caused passer-bys to stare at _me_ suspiciously. Suddenly, Landyn said that he wanted to visit a souvenir shop. I was confused. But much as I wanted to scream _No! I need to get to June RIGHT NOW! _I agreed reluctantly and trailed him to the nearest shop. While Landyn went in the shop, I got myself a map and stared it until my eyes could burn a whole through it. _Where could they be? How can I sneak into their camp? How can I find June? What if we got caught? _I was alarmed at how nervous I was. But my mind was either all blank or stuffed with useless worries, just not calm enough to think of any strategy. I didn't realize Landyn was already out until I felt my head being capped. I reached to my head and felt the brim of an overlarge bucket hat. Whirling around, I found Landyn behind me.

"Tuck your hair in that hat. Your hair is too long and shiny, it stands out. Maybe if we come across a Roman, you can pass off as June." Landyn explained.

Ten minutes later, we found ourselves near the woods where we encountered Oak and the other tree nymphs. It suddenly dawned on me that they would probably know something. So together we called out for Oak to come out. Luckily, we didn't have to look for too long this time. Seconds later, Oak materialized in front of us.

"You came to see me!" She beamed. "I didn't know you were visiting again so soon. Missed me?" Oak batted her eyelashes at Landyn.

Landyn just smiled and said: "We don't break our promises. Nice to see you again." Oak giggled.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and said loudly: "Actually, we came to…" I didn't get to finish my sentence because Landyn clapped his hand over my mouth and said loudly: "So how are things around the park? We thought you might be bored or something so we decided to pay you a visit before going back to Camp."

"Aw, how thoughtful you are!" The nymph sighed happily. "As a matter of fact, something interesting happened just now and I doubt we would be bored for the time being." She looked over her shoulder where some other tree spirits were hiding and they broke into giggles again.

At the same time, I slapped Landyn's hand away and glared at him to show that I got his message. I had to admit that Landyn was much better at this sort of thing than me, because after a few minutes of chatting, we had learned everything we needed to know. Apparently, the Romans did arrive at Central Park that evening and the nymphs were eager to find out whether there were handsome heroes wandering around. They were so eager, in fact, that it wasn't even hard for us to end the conversation and make them lead us to the Romans. Nearly half and hour later, we were all hiding behind trees and sneaking looks at a large grassland not far away. Although the passer-bys with no surprise tossed us strange looks, none seemed to notice the abnormal things going around on the grassland. Tents were set up and lights were lit from within. People were walking around, talking and whispering. On top of all that, unless my eyes were tricked by light, I saw enormous beasts with wings resting in one corner. But my eyes didn't dwell on them; I scanned around furiously, hoping to catch the light of white-blond hair.

After looking for several minutes, I gave up and told Landyn: "This is no use. I can't find June. They're still too far away. We'll have to sneak closer." He agreed and we decided that we needed a distraction. The next question was how we were supposed to distract the enemy.

"By calling _Fire! Fire!_ or dropping a bomb near their camp?" Oak suggested, trying hard not to laugh. The other nymph covered their mouths and shook with laughter. Obviously, they thought this was a really fun game of "Free the Captive". I ignored them and looked up to Landyn. He studied the Roman camp for a while, holding his chin.

Finally, he turned to me and said: "I think I've got an idea. But it's a pretty risky one." Then he told me his plan.

"Ok, let's do it." I said definitely. The plan we were about to carry out was, as Landyn said, very risky. But unfortunately, I had no other ideas. So Landyn, Oak and I moved through the woods till we were just across the place where the winged beasts were resting. Now closer, I found out the beasts were huge eagles with gleaming coats of feather and sharp, deadly beaks. I swallowed hard and once again prayed that the plan would not go wrong.

"Oak, are you ready?" Landyn asked.

"I'm always ready." She grinned and sprinted out from behind the trees towards the Roman camp with agility and stealth neither Landyn nor I possessed. Within seconds I lost sight of her among the giant eagles.

"She's going to be ok, right?" I whispered to Landyn.

He nodded and reassured me: "Of course, she has her own branch of woodland magic, doesn't she?" It was true, and that was why Oak had volunteered to do the job.

We didn't have to wait long to see how well Oak had done her job. Minutes later, the first screech of an eagle was heard and instantly, all the eagles were screeching and flapping their enormous wings. Some even took off and fly aimlessly around, claws accidentally ripping tents when they swooped down. As we had expected, this threw the Romans into chaos. Demigods were shouting and running around all over the place.

"Now, we go." Landyn said and we jumped out from our hiding place and ran right towards the camp.

As I ran into the chaotic camp all I could see was teenagers in purple T-shirts flashing past. So many people were shouting that I could hardly make out anything they were saying. I ran around and opened my eyes wide searching for the familiar face of my twin.

_No, not her. No…not this one either. No…no…not her…_My throat started closing up. I wanted to call out her name, but I knew doing so would only draw myself unwanted attention. But I couldn't catch sight of June anywhere. _Where is she?_

Suddenly, I felt someone grabbing my arm and jerking me back. I swung around and found that it was Landyn.

"Calm down, July!" He panted. "You almost ran into one of them!"

Just then, I heard a terrible screech so loud that my ear hurt. I looked up just in time to see a pair of gleaming sharp claws swiping down, so powerful that it seemed to be tearing the air into pieces. I opened my mouth automatically to scream but it came out as a choke. Before we could pull out our weapons Landyn and I were seized by the collar and thrown back. The eagle's claws missed us by inches.

"Oof!" I lost my balance and fell on my butt, yeah, real gracefully.

"Phew! That was close!" I heard someone said beside us as Landyn pulled me onto my feet. We turned to the voice and I felt my heart drop. _Uh-oh._ I thought. _We're dead._

It was a Roman demigod, judging from his T-shirt.

"I have no idea why the eagles suddenly went berserk. But Reyna's going to have them under control soon." He said. "Before that, you guys shouldn't run around like that." _Then what are you Romans doing? _I thought.

"I, uh, guess so. Thanks for saving us." Landyn said. I nodded at a side, feeling more and more uneasy. Neither Landyn nor I was wearing purple T-shirts; he was bound to find out that who he saved was not his kind.

"No prob. Hey, you're…you're the new Fifth Cohort girl, yeah?" He said as he took a closer look at me. "But I thought the Fifth Cohort was on the mission to track ArgoⅡ?" He frowned slightly.

"Um..." I gulped. "I…" I could feel beads of sweat popping up on my forehead. I threw Landyn a pleading look. However, Landyn didn't have the chance to talk.

"Oh, of course, you're new so Reyna wouldn't send you on such an important task! Sorry, I wasn't thinking." The Roman boy said, smiling apologetically. "It's ok. You don't need to feel embarrassed. We're all new once, right?" He slapped me on the back and grinned. I gave Landyn a confused look but he just shrugged in return. Was the boy talking about June? Did he really mistake me as June?

Just when I was about to let my breath out, the Roman demigod switched on a serious face and pulled me aside.

"Is he your boyfriend? I've never seen _him_ before. A mortal?" He asked quietly, eyeing Landyn.

"Uh…" I was really starting get annoyed with myself. Couldn't I start a sentence with something other then "Uh" and "Um"? But I couldn't help it. We didn't expect we would have to deal with such a strange situation. According to the plan, once we were discovered, we should retreat immediately.

"No, he's just a friend. And yeah, he's mortal." I swallowed and said quickly. Better a mortal than a Greek demigod, right? The Roman guy narrowed his eyes.

"…with clairvoyance." I added nervously, remembering Rachel. "He can see through the mist, but he's mortal."

"Ookay…that's pretty rare. But still, why is he here?" The Roman demigod continued to ask.

"I just happened to come across him, um, ten minutes ago. We both live near here, you know." I rambled on.

The boy scratched his head and after a few seconds of hesitation, he said: "Ok, but you'd better not let Reyna see him. Bringing irrelevant people to camp is forbidden. Didn't Bob tell you?"

"I guess he forgot." I said, silently letting out a breath of relief. On the other side, I wondered who "Reyna" and "Bob" were. She sounded pretty important…and scary.

"Well, get him out of here now, will you? And don't let Reyna see you in clothes other than your purple T-shirt." The Roman demigod advised.

I thanked him and returned to Landyn. I told him briefly about our conversation.

"Looks like you did fine on your own! I was worrying that your mind would go blank and you wouldn't know what to say." Landyn said solemnly.

"Thank you so much, I feel so proud of myself." I said sarcastically. "But it sounds to me like June isn't here. What do we do?" The relief I just felt was fading fast. Landyn bit his lips.

"Retreat, I guess." He decided. "We've looked long enough. And according to that boy, June is on another task…"

"She's not here." Landyn said at last, pain leaking through his voice.

My shoulders drooped. I nodded slowly, but I couldn't say anything, not when I was trying hard not to cry. I guess I already knew when I heard the Roman demigod's words, but it was still hard to take. It felt like you were trying so hard to grasp something in front of you, and just when you felt it in your palm, it slipped through your fingers. I hung my head and blinked furiously. Landyn took my hand and navigated our way through the Roman demigods. No one paid us much attention, so we almost made it out, almost.


	17. Chapter 15 Landyn

**Hi again! We're finally on summer vacation…the shortest one in history! We will be having only about three weeks before we have to return to school. So sad…**

**Anyway, since it's vacation, regardless of its length, we'll be updating regularly! We're really sorry for the numerous delays in earlier chapters.**

**Enjoy, Chapter 15!**

**-Amber-**

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Chapter 15 Landyn

With July's hand in mine, I made way in the Roman camp, trying to avoid stares and looking for a way to leave inconspicuously. The sky was growing dark. There was no reason for us to remain here any longer.

June wasn't here. We've gone through so much trouble just to have our hope crushed. I was so dazed that I didn't really know where I was going until July suddenly jerked me into a stop.

"What…" The question died in my throat as I turned to see a tall tan girl with long dark hair and obsidian eyes standing a few feet away. From the number of shiny medals on her equally shiny armor and the look of authority and pride on her face, I guessed she was some sort of a leader of the Romans. From the way she looked deliberately and expectantly at us, I guessed….we were busted. What was the name of the leader of Camp Jupiter again? I was certain I've heard it before.

Quickly, I swept a glance around us: I had somehow led us to the back of some "Vulcan's E-Z Removable Stables", where a single peanut butter colored horse with wings stood, swishing his sleek tail. Except for the girl glaring at us, no one else was in sight. Oh, right, two huge metal hunting dogs circled us, most likely under the command of the Roman girl. July glanced at me uncertainly, asking in silence _What now?_

I cleared my throat. "Um…hi."

Both girls stared at me. I could almost see July slapping her forehead and groaning. The Roman girl scowled at me and turned to July instead: "What are you doing here?"

Such a simple question. But I knew she knew what the answer was….no, what the answer _wasn't_.

"I…" July started to answer. The gold and silver dogs' metal lips lifted up to a snarl. I cut in quickly: "We're looking for something." Something in the glowing ruby eyes of the dogs told me lying wasn't a good idea. July looked at me in surprise. In return, I squeezed her hand once: _Stay quiet and let me do the talking. _I hoped she understood.

The Roman girl narrowed her eyes: "Looking for something? Didn't you go with Octavian to track down ArgoⅡ, June? You'd better watch your words…I wouldn't want Argentum and Aurum to attack our new recruit. But if you do lie, there will be nothing that I can do."

Thank goodness I stopped July before she said anything. July's eyes were wide. I answered: "Something happened. An accident." Well, that was sort of the truth. Suddenly, I remembered. She was Reyna, praetor of Camp Jupiter. Oh joy, I also remembered Nico warning us not to get on her bad side, which was just what we were doing.

"An accident?" Reyna glowered. "Why didn't I hear anything about that? Were you among us all this time? And, who are _you_, anyway?"

"I'm Landyn Green. June's friend." I replied, ignoring the first two questions.

Reyna looked at us long and hard. "All these days…I have never seen you, June, and neither did I hear anything about you. Where were you? If you were here, so should Bob. Where is he? I haven't seen him either."

Damn. Reyna's inquiries were getting harder and harder to answer. Who the heck is Bob, anyway? The other Roman guy had mentioned him too. Part of me wondered.

"You be quiet. You're suspicious enough." Reyna ordered me menacingly. I gulped. It was not like I knew what to say anyway. I just hoped July could think up something plausible.

"Um…" July started but Reyna suddenly took a step closer, staring intently at her.

"Wait…where is your camp T-shirt? Why are you wearing such a ridiculous hat? And your probation tablet?" With every question, Reyna took a step closer, eyebrows furrowing steadily. She seemed to grow taller, towering over us in her rage. Goldie and Silver growled, visibly becoming agitated. When they snapped, the sound reminded me of electric meat choppers.

When Reyna came within reach of us she thrust out a hand and…swiped July's hat off. She gasped (I imagined, though in reality, nothing showed on her hard regal face). In stead of June's new choppy/messy hair, July's long white blond hair tumbled down.

"You're not June." Reyna gritted her teeth.

July took one look at the growling dogs and shook her head meekly. I sighed. I knew July's perfect, uncut hair would give her away immediately if it was exposed, but I had hoped the hat thing would protect her identity a bit longer.

I decided I should just confess, since there was no easy way out anyhow. "I'm sorry, Reyna." Reyna turned towards me at the mention of her name. "You're right, she's not June. She's July Loras."

Reyna blinked. Then she turned even angrier, if possible. "_July _Loras?Are you kidding? Lift whatever despicable spell you used to duplicate June and tell me your real identity."

She had unsheathed her _gladius _and was pointing it at me. I raised both of my hands to show I had no weapons and replied: "No, I wasn't joking. How would I dare? I'm no spell caster and this is not a duplicate of June. Look at your dogs. They aren't attacking me. I'm telling the truth."

I waited as she glanced at her pets and back at me, a look of confusion overcoming her expression of anger. I continued: "She is July, twin sister of June Loras, your new recruit, and I am Landyn Green, as I said before, friend of June. We're here to look for June, who was separated from us several days ago."

"Twin sister?" Reyna said in shock. "June never mentioned she had a twin!"

"She probably thought I was dead." July muttered, speaking up at last.

Reyna fell silent, brooding over the things she just learned. When she finally looked up, she asked: "Even if what you said was true, how did you know we're here? Did you follow us all across the country? If so, how did you do that? We rode eagles and pegasi!"

I figured out Reyna was one with a lot of questions.

Apparently, July was getting impatient too. She answered: "Of course we didn't follow you all across the country. We came from Camp…"

"No!" I cried out. "I mean, we've always been in New York. We just happened to hear about your arrival…" Damn, it's so hard think up an excuse when you know you would be devoured if you told a lie.

But it was too late. The damage was done. "Camp?" Reyna's face darkened suddenly. "You mean Camp Half-blood. What are demigods from Camp Half-blood doing here?" She hissed, raising her blade again and pressing it to my chest. The Roman sword gleamed in the dark.

"Looking for June." I said bluntly.

Reyna looked like she was going lose it at me, but then a horn was blown. Reyna was so focused on threatening me that she jumped, almost skewering my chin, when she heard it. She cursed and sheathed her _gladius_. "I've wasted too much time. The scouts are back."

"What about us, then? Are you letting us go?" I asked hopefully.

Reyna gave me a glare that rivaled July's and said to her dogs: "Take them to my tent…and keep them there." She turned on her heel and ran off.

I looked at the red eyes of Argentum and Aurum glowing like small balls of fire in the dark and smiled wearily: "Nice to meet you two. Please don't bite me." The two metal hounds barked in response and herded us away from the stables.

xxx

As the praetor of Camp Jupiter, Reyna sure had a modest tent. Inside the purple water-proof tent, there were only a simple fold-away bed and a desk with maps and scrolls littered across. There was a single chair, but since it was Reyna's, we didn't dare to sit on it and had to stand idly. The dogs prowled outside the tent, throwing huge hideous shadows on the tent drapes. Slowly, the night grew on, but no one came to get us. July first plopped down on the floor, leaning on the desk leg and started to doze off. I couldn't fight sleep longer and slid down next to her. Soon I lost conscious too.

Sometime around six in the morning, I woke up with a start. I was lying on the floor beside July. Someone had given us each a blanket. Sitting up gingerly so as not to wake July, I looked around in the dim tent. Dawn's pale fingers had already traced the tent, giving away the positions of the dogs patrolling outside by their light shadows. Turning my head, I saw a familiar figure sitting at the desk. Reyna's head rested in her arms as she breathed steadily in her sleep. I pushed away my blanket and picked myself up as quietly as I could. My question of why she didn't sleep in her bed was answered when I peered over her shoulder and saw the map lying before her—a map newly marked with battle strategies and soldier arrays. I examined her plans and shuddered. They were exquisite, simple but smart, and very effective-looking. Suddenly, Reyna stirred and sat up abruptly.

"Ow!" I cried, rubbing my chin and backing away. Never did I know Reyna's head would be so hard.

Reyna was up in an instant. "You! You were spying on our plans!" She was so angry that the finger she pointed at me was shaking. July was waken by the noise and got up in confusion.

"Wait! I wasn't spying! I was just curious!" I yelled as the praetor leap towards her sword. "I promise, I promise nothing that I've seen will leave this tent."

Reyna studied us warily, still posed for attack.

July tried to soothe her down: "Come on, Reyna. We really aren't spies. We came here on the behalf of no one except for ourselves. Camp Half-blood probably already exiled us for disobeying direct orders… I just wanted to find June. Now that we know she's not here, we have no business here anymore."

Reyna was not convinced. "Why should I believe you? I am going to contact Octavian and have her brought back immediately, though it'll still take at least two days. We will then decide what to do with you three."

"Have who brought back?" I asked, though I already guessed the answer and my pulse quickened.

"June Loras. The fact that you're twins with June but a Greek demigod means June had lied to us. Pretending to be Roman to infiltrate our camp is serious crime, regardless of the reasons and purposes." Reyna said coldly, pointedly at July.

That pushed July over the edge. "What else could she have done? Expose her identity as a Greek and voluntarily let you Romans keep her under house arrest and inquire her of Camp Half-blood? You're the ones that are treating us with hostility! Who knows what you would do to her after ArgoⅡwent wrong if you had known she was Greek?"

"Excuses!" Reyna snapped. "Crime is crime; it is not alterable." With one last hard look at us, the praetor of Camp Jupiter swept out of the tent, into the morning mist that had settled over the camp site. Her angry voice calling someone to bring her "the emergency cell phone" carried throughout the camp.

"That…that woman!" July growled in frustration, "Why does she have to have so much Roman discipline and dignity?"

I patted her shoulder and said: "Calm down. This way, Reyna would have June sent straight into our hands. Saves us a lot of time and energy, actually."

July's hands were balled. "Yeah, so we can join her in the imprisonment of the Romans instead of sneak her out as we originally planned."

"Don't be so pessimistic. We'll figure it all out." I replied, not believing myself a bit.

I had scarcely finished my sentence when a horn sounded outside, followed by an uproar. As far as I could hear, campers were rising all around Reyna's tent, all shouting and trampling around. I looked at July and at once, both of us ran out of the tent.

The moment we tore our way out of the tent flaps, Argentum and Aurum materialized in front of us, growling and baring their razor sharp teeth.

"Whoa! Down, boys, we're not going anywhere!" I cried as the dogs began circling us menacingly. The sun had just risen to the tree tops, its rays piercing through the light morning fog. Roman campers were pulling on armors, shouting questions and demands towards each other. I saw in the faces of the guys and girls in purple shirts rushing past us without so much as a glance at us that something was wrong, and it had put all the demigods on guard.

"What's going on?" July exclaimed in bewilderment.

I grabbed a passing guy by his shirt. The guy stumbled and almost fell over in his haste. He steadied himself and turned around to shout at me: "Watch it, man! What do…"

Too late, I realized in my anxiety, I had accidentally let out my illusional ability. The guy wore the same confused and shocked expression as every one of my previous "victims" did. I blinked quickly and lowered my eyes. _Not now!_ I cursed myself. Everything is already in a mess without me confusing people.

July gave me a small reassuring squeeze on my arm and apologized for me. Though the guy seemed to have trouble understanding July's words and was constantly wondering who we were, we had no time to explain more explicitly. July asked: "What's going on? Why are you all in such a hurry?"

"There's a…wait." The camper narrowed his eyes: "I've heard the praetor had caught some spies from Camp Half-blood…you look suspicious." His hand went towards the _gladius_ hanging on his belt.

_Why do rumors spread so fast in a Roman camp?_ I wanted to just attack the camper and escape, but the dogs were still eyeing us hungrily. July and I held up our hands and backed away slowly. Just at this time, a hand clapped on the guy's shoulder. He started and looked back.

"Enough." Reyna said. "You did well. Now leave them to me."

The guy nodded obediently and hurried to join his comrades, giving us doubtful glances all the way. Before we could protest, Reyna shoved us back into her tent and growled: "Were you trying to escape? You are indeed twins with June Loras, July."

"What?" July blinked in surprise.

Reyna gripped the handle of her sword tightly: "June is gone."

My heart went up into my throat.

"Octavian said she had disappeared in the middle of a fight with the crew of ArgoⅡ." Reyna continued, the knuckles of her hand on the sword growing whiter visibly.

Both July and I were at a loss for words. June had disappeared? Did that mean she was killed? No, that's impossible. She must have escaped. I was so filled with hope and worry at the same time that I couldn't form words.

July, on the other hand, suddenly laughed. "I should've known! June is totally capable of taking care of herself. Why was I freaking out anyway? It's totally ridiculous!"

Unfortunately, I couldn't smile as well. It seemed to me that July's laugh was nothing if not bitter.

Reyna's frown grew darker. "June had condemned herself to the strictest sanction of the Roman laws and you can still laugh?"

She was probably about to make some threats when a camper yelled outside the tent: "Praetor! The Cychreides has broken through the first line of defense and the second line is collapsing too!"

Reyna cursed and shouted at us: "Stay where you are. I'll be back…if I can finish off the blasted Cychreides." Then she ran out of the tent once again.

"The Cychreides?" July said the word carefully, as if studying the syllables. She shook her head: "I think the Hunter's Survival Guide Thalia gave us upon our first meeting mentioned it before. But I don't remember much about it. Just that it's a huge dragon and it was killed by some ancient son of Poseidon…I think"

"So… what should we do now?" I said.

With a determined look, July said: "Definitely not sit and wait."

"No, not sit and wait." I confirmed. "Let's escape, for _real_."

July smiled at last. "Of course. What's the better time to escape than when an unexpected dragon attacks?"

Together, we ran out of the tent. Luckily, the dogs were nowhere in sight—they must have followed their master into battle. The camp was in chaos. Campers were all heading towards one side, armed with swords, spears, shields and other wicked weapons. While some giant eagles shot into the area of fight, more flew towards places of peace with hurt demigods on their backs or in the grip of their claws. My eyes followed the direction of the stream of demigods and saw, in disbelief, a huge dragon with dark glinting scales and a spiked tail towering over dozens of Roman campers. With a jolt, I realized the small flying object that looked like a pony toy next to the gigantic dragon was the pegasus we saw in the stables and Reyna was mounted on it.

"Which way should we go?" July asked, ignoring the dragon howling not far away. I looked around. No one was paying attention to us. We could go whichever way we choose and slip out of camp easily. But…the cries of hurt demigods and the clashing sound of metal against scales harder than metal flooded my ears.

I swallowed hard and said: "Let's help them."

I was afraid July would be shocked and start protesting, but instead, she smiled: "I thought so. Come on, goodie-two-shoes, let's go help those Romans and show them the spirits of Camp Half-blood!"

Running as fast as we could, we headed towards the Cychreides. As we ran, we watched the dragon fight, inspecting its body and moves to look for its weakness. The way the dragon moved its head and neck soon caught my attention. I pointed it out to July and with her better-than-normal eyesight she saw the crucial point immediately.

When we were finally within fighting distance with the dragon, July pulled out her gold pin quickly and ran off the get a position advantage for her archery. I, on the other hand, yelled for Reyna. After shouting so loud that my vocal cords seemed to be on the verge of snapping, Reyna finally whirled towards me in the air. Her eyes widened and instantly nudged her mount to fly back to the ground. She ran to me and said, breathing hard: "What on earth are you doing here? Go back to my tent! This is not a place for you…you'll get killed!"

"Hey! Don't underestimate us! We're here to help." I protested.

Reyna looked at me unbelievingly and started to say something, but I cut her off and told her our discovery and plan. When I finished, Reyna was no longer glowering at me. She glanced at me critically before looking back at the dragon. After some time of silence, she agreed.

I climbed on the pegasus behind Reyna and we took flight, ignoring the gawking campers around us. Just before we were getting out of hearing distance to those on the ground, I shouted: "Game's on, July!"

"Sit tight!" Reyna warned as she spurred the winged horse. The peanut butter colored pegasus neighed and shot straight towards the head of the huge dragon. On sudden thought, I hoped the dragon didn't breathe fire or spat poison. Too late to turn back. In half a heartbeat, we were hovering right before the magnificent monster's eyes. The red serpentine pupils bore right into mine, paralyzing me. I couldn't move; my heart raced; my adrenaline surged.

_Don't freak out. Keep calm. _I told myself. I forced myself to hold the monster's gaze and tried to put power in my eyes. I had to make the power of Aphrodite's blessing override the paralyzing power of the Cychreides. For the longest minute in my life, I battled the urge to tell Reyna to take me back and poured all my energy in the power my eyes held. Suddenly, the dragon's pupils dilated and its spell over me shattered. I stared into its eyes in full focus, capturing it in illusions. I nodded slightly at Reyna and she commanded the pegasus to rise, ever so slowly, in the air. The dragon's head lifted as his eyes followed mine, caught in my stare. But even as we rose, I felt the inner-conscious of the Cychreides fighting under the dazed surface. I knew I couldn't hold it much longer. _Hurry, July!_

_Whoosh! _I heard the sound of arrows slicing through the air and _thump, _hitting their target. For a moment, the dragon froze. Then, my eye contact with the yellow eyes broke and the dragon screeched horribly, thrashing around wildly. Reyna steered the pegasus deftly to duck the dragon's swings and flew us to safety. From a distance, I saw that a cluster of July's golden arrows had sprouted from the juncture of the dragon's neck and head—the only place that was not completely covered with scales. Dark red blood poured out of the wound. The Roman soldiers kept on whacking the dragon on every place they could lay their blades on and the few Roman archers followed July's suit, firing even more arrows into the Cychreides' neck. Slowly, its struggles slowed and finally died down. With a huge crashing sound, the monstrous dragon fell, smashing several tents underneath its ponderous body.

In a split moment, the whole Roman camp erupted into deafening cheering. I had slipped off Reyna's pegasus as inconspicuously as possible earlier and now, seizing the moment, set off to find July and escape in the midst of disorder. July was looking for me too so it didn't take long for us to meet.

"Good job, July." I whispered to her as we pushed through the crowd.

July rolled her eyes but not without a smile: "What did you expect? You already gave me the clearest target I could get!"

"Yeah, I'm so great! You'd better put this back on, if we don't want to get caught again." I replied, taking out the large bucket hat I had hid in my pocket since Reyna caught us and pulled it over July's too-obvious long hair. She quickly tucked her hair in. Navigating through the clusters of Romans with our heads lowered, our escape was fairly easy. No one thought to interrogate us in the joy of the victory against the Cychreides dragon and at most clapped us in the back and congratulate each other.

Steadily, we moved towards the edge of the camp. When we finally stepped outside the marked borders of camp, we broke off into a run. The sun was shining bright in mortal Central Park—it must be well past ten o'clock. Peaceful people in their morning strolls glanced at us curiously but not unfriendly. The sunshine was so warm; the grass under our feet was so green. As we ran, I sighed in content. Looking back at Roman campsite, I saw nothing but a fenced area of new tree saplings—the mist's doing. I wondered what Reyna would do when she finds out we had escaped…just as June did. That brought me to our new problem: If June had disappeared…how should we find her? Maybe we could try an Iris-Message first…

My planning was stopped short when July suddenly gasped, swinging out an arm to make me stop.

"What's wrong?" I asked her. Surely we weren't already besieged by Romans? But July was breathing hard, staring unwavering ahead. To my surprise, tears glistened in her eyes, threatening to fall.

I turned my head and looked ahead. My breath left me.

Some feet away from us, a girl in a crumpled purple shirt and plain jeans with a gleaming _gladius_ hanging by her side stood. She had windblown hair that seemed to be cut just to scare gangsters and bore many bandages covering various injuries. Light-blue eyes that gave you the feeling of a pool of icy spring water glittered under bangs held aside by a golden pin.

"June." I whispered.

**The Loras twins finally REUNITE! How exciting! I can't wait for the next chapter (though I'll be the one writing it.)! So…what do you think about this chapter? I think I did OK…sort of. Anyway, give us some feedback!**

**-Amber-**


	18. Chapter 16 June

**OK, listen up, readers. This is the second last chapter of this fanfic. We won't be continuing June and July and Landyn's story after this fanfic ends (which is in the next chapter). This chapter covers a pretty long time span, so it might be a little confusing, but the timeline is totally based on the timeline in the Mark of Athena. However, there is a little spot that's not as the original story went—in the MoA, Annabeth encountered Reyna in Charlestown, but in this fanfic, we wrote Reyna went to New York. So no Reyna in Charlestown. **

**So that's all I have to say. Please enjoy :)**

**-Amber-**

Chapter 16 June

It turned out that the reason why Dakota called us back to assembly, forcing me to part with that beautiful black pegasus (which I strongly suspected belonged to Percy), was for dinner. I hadn't realized time had passed so fast—I had stayed with the pegasus for too long. According to reports, most of the single scouts had taken on a possible scent track heading towards Atlanta. When Octavian demanded why I didn't find that track like everyone else, I had to say I fell off the eagle and passed out for some time, which made Susan and Dakota and all the others start anxiously check if I was ok immediately. Anyway, on the general, nothing went much wrong and after a quick meal, we followed the scent track towards Atlanta steadily into the night before Octavian finally permitted rest.

The next morning, I managed to talk Dakota out of putting me back in the chariot, with the help of a supportive Susan who shuddered at the thought of being back in her original position as a single scout.

We must have been gaining on the Greeks, as all of the eagles sped towards Atlanta without any hesitation. I was grateful that because the scent was strong, Copper didn't need to swoop down for confirmation at all—having slept for less than 4 hours the night before, I was so tired I could barely keep myself on Copper. Almost noon, we arrived. As the city was more thickly populated than the wheat fields of Kansas, and had many more elements that clouded the eagles senses so we couldn't be certain where exactly the Greeks were. With no other way, we split up to scout the city.

Soaring in the air, I had the perfect view of the stunning city of Atlanta. I was squinting in the sun trying to spot some famous sightseeing sites(I figured we were somewhere above the Carter Center when Copper suddenly screeched and turned direction.

"Whoa!" I cried as I was swung around in the air. Copper was zooming in towards a large building until we were so close that I could see the signs: Georgia Aquarium.

_The Aquarium? _Why did Copper take me here? There's no way such a huge warship like ArgoⅡ could fit in the building, as large as it was. But as Copper circulated around the aquarium, I noticed something was wrong. Alarms blared in the building. Floods of people poured out of the exit, kids screaming and adults yelling. There was water leaking out of the exit. _This was definitely the doings of demigods. _I was almost sure that I would find a member of the ArgoⅡ crew. I scanned the wild crowds as best as I could for familiar faces.

I was about to tell Copper to let me down for a closer look when suddenly the exit exploded. Copper swerved to avoid the rubble but I squeezed my eyes shut instinctively. When I opened them, I thought I was seeing things.

"I've been too high up in the air for too long—a lack of oxygen may lead to hallucinations…"I muttered, staring at the twin sea serpents that had popped out of the wrecked aquarium exit, bright glowing blue scales and jaws flashing in the sun. A girl with black pigtails that looked in her late 20s and also very not human ran between the serpents, fuming and shouting: "Son of Poseidon! Where have you gone hiding? Even if I was a monster nerd, there's absolutely no reason to kick me in the head!"

If Percy had chosen to run away rather than face the two sea serpents and the girl, I'd better follow suit. I whistled as quietly as I could to tell Copper to take me away. Either I was way too unlucky or the serpents had super hearing, they turned and their green eyes zoomed in on me. They hissed in harmony and started slithering towards me, their enormous head following Copper's moves in the air. I groaned. Missing Percy was one thing, but getting chased by thirty-feet monster serpents that were supposed to be chasing after _him_ was another.

"What is it, babies?" The girl spotted me. "Ah! Demigod on an eagle! Is she friends with Percy Jackson?"

I checked my weapons: a gladius which I didn't really know how to use properly, a dagger—too small, Landyn's gun—with no bullets and my golden pin. Not exactly sufficient against my enemies. "Fly, Copper." I decided. I wasn't going to idle and entertain twin sea serpents and a pig-tailed girl. Copper obviously agreed with me. He flapped his great wings and shot away from the wreck of an aquarium Percy caused.

The girl screamed in irritation: "Why fly away? Keto can give you a VIP tour of 'Death in the Deep Seas'!"

The serpents tried to get to us but Copper was much faster. In a few minutes, we were well out of seeing range of the aquarium. I let out a breath—I was not in a state or mood to fight monsters. Copper kept on flying until we left the city and the landscape beneath was more wide open and sparsely populated. After a while, I spotted Dakota's chariot ahead of us. Someone in chariot saw me too and waved, beckoning me to come closer. I gulped, hoping it wasn't Octavian calling me to convict me of treason at last. When I got as close as I could get with the chariot, I asked: "What's up?"

Octavian, with his signature sneer, yelled to be heard over the wind: "You missed lunch period by two hours!"

I blinked. _Lunch period._ In the chaos of the aquarium, I had totally forgotten about eating. I guess with the Greeks 'supposedly' so close at hand, Copper had chosen to keep on the tracking instead of heeding Dakota's signals.

"Where have you been?" Octavian demanded, "Were you secretly meeting up with the Graecus again?"

I rolled my eyes. "No, Octavian. I was just scouting. I thought I had one, but then I got attacked by sea serpents from the aquarium. There were two and a girl called Keto…"

"Keto?" Howard asked, leaning out of the chariot so I could hear him more clearly, "Isn't that a sea goddess, mother of many monsters? Wow."

I shrugged, "Must be." The more dangerous they think my encounter was, they more will they understand why I failed to answer Dakota's call for lunch.

"Did you get hurt?" Dakota asked, trying to survey me. Susan, Bob and even Rick all peered over the chariot at me worriedly.

I was moved. Smiling, I reassured: "It's OK, I'm fine. Copper was a great partner."

Susan threw me a packet of crackers to make up for my missed lunch and Dakota explained to me that the eagles had picked up two different scent tracks, and now Cohort Five have been divided into two groups, one for each track. Dakota's chariot was following the thinner trail, and so was I supposed to be.

To show that I was sorry for my delay, I nodded obedient and told Copper to speed off ahead on the trail. For the rest of the day, Copper took me further and further west. With no excitement at all, night fell and we who followed the thinner trail gathered for dinner and continued on the chase all night with only two hours of sleep permitted—Octavian insisted that we must accelerate and gain on ArgoⅡ before it was too late. Dakota said that the Greeks were getting closer and closer to the west coast and once they fly out to the Atlantic Ocean, there would be no more need to pursue, as they would have marked themselves as outlaws and would then be in the mercy of Mare Nostrum (it even sounded evil). If that happened, our dear augur would be very disappointed to have lost a chance to revenge on the Graecus.

The next day, we kept heading towards the west coast. By the time the bright summer sun was high in the sky, I could see the glittering sea along the horizon. My purple shirt was sticking to my back with sweat and my jeans were worn and dirty, but I couldn't care less. We were approaching the seaside, and also the Greeks. Copper was alert and excited, apparently eager to meet his prey as soon as possible. The eagles pulling Dakota's chariot must have been given extra fuel as they did a pretty good job surpassing some of the slower single scouts and joining the faster ones, like me (praise goes to Copper, who is an amazing flyer).

Then, we spotted ArgoⅡin the distance. The gleaming bronze warship was harbored in a dock along the coastline of Charlestown.

"The Graecus!" Octavian was so excited his voice became rather like the sound of broken bagpipes. "Finally! Make sure none of them gets off!" He had forced a single scout to trade positions with him so now we had a scarecrow dangling in the claws of an eagle. Oh by the way, he was kneading wax ear plugs so he could fight the 'evil siren' of the Greeks (a.k.a. Piper McLean)

Dakota ignored him and gave us last instructions: "Try to locate all the targets and capture them one by one—once united, they would be a lot harder to overpower. They should be mostly on land now. Act before they take cover in the ship. And most importantly, heed my signals!" He looked at me sternly at the last tip.

I nodded solemnly and then the eagles dove down in several directions. I was secretly glad Copper chose to head down towards Fort Sumter together with Dakota's chariot while Octavian's eagle shot towards the harbor.

It appeared that Percy wasn't among the demigods in Fort Sumter. I reached the fort earlier than the chariot. When Copper screeched as he flew right above the Jason, Leo and Frank, the three boys immediately went on the run. With fellow Romans closing in quickly, I couldn't think of what to do except just chase after the targets. Copper dipped so low to the ground when he gained on the escaping boys, I could see Leo's flabbergasted face as he recognized me.

"Hurry! The other Romans are right behind!" I yelled, urging them on.

Jason looked back at me in bewilderment: "Are you trying to help us?"

"I knew you were a good guy!" Leo gave me a bright smile.

But I had no time for jokes: "I may want to help you, but Copper, I mean my eagle, don't! Can't you be faster? You, the Asian one, they say you can shift shape. Change into something faster and take them with you!"

The Asian looked annoyed that I was ordering him around, but he still started to change. I looked up—Dakota's chariot was already in proximity. There wasn't enough time. Copper screeched and suddenly shot up. Turning back quickly, I found that the guys were no longer on the ground. A bald eagle, Frank, was carrying Leo and Jason towards the docks. Indeed they were faster, but the load seemed too much for Frank and…it was too late. The chariot descended from the high air and headed straight towards them. Susan and Rick were firing arrow after arrow at them while Dakota brandished his gladius.

"No!" I shouted out. I was so focused on them that I didn't notice a flaming spear being shot from the ship straight at the chariot. It exploded around the eagles and drew them into frenzy. I watched in horror as Frank spiral out of control, being singed by the flames, and lost grip of Leo. Whoever that fired the spear must be the stupidest person in the world. The panicked eagles sent the chariot slamming straight into Jason. All around me, people were falling from the sky, both Greek and Roman. Despair caught me so that I couldn't think clearly. But luckily, the eagles of single scouts had arrived and got busy catching falling Romans on their backs right away. Unluckily, they pad no attention to falling Greeks/Traitors. As Copper flew to catch Bobby who fell out of the chariot, I found Jason coming my way, trying his best to support a flailing Leo dizzily. Without thinking, I reached out and grabbed Jason's shirt. I only wanted to save them from falling to their death, but I overestimated Copper's strength—four demigods all equipped with weapons was no small load. Flapping and screeching desperately Copper could only manage to slow our fall. Bobby, Jason and Leo all tumbled to the ground as soon as Copper got low enough. I undid my vest straps and dropped to the ground as well. I couldn't blame Copper as he abandoned me after buffeting his wings at me angrily—I was a terrible partner.

I ran to the boys' side immediately. "Is everybody all right?"

Jason and Leo were up and about soon enough but Bobby was another case. He had fallen on a piece of rubble, and his right leg was bleeding badly. He winced as I knelt down next to him and cut off the piece of cloth around the wound. I blinked back tears, though I knew getting hurt was almost inevitable in a battle. "Stay still. I'll fix it up." I ordered Bob and he tried to get up.

Bobby protested. "But you should be going with Jason! He'll take you to the Greeks and then you can find a way to go to Camp Half-blood! I'll be fine here. Dakota will come get me soon."

I looked at the other guys. They were looking around nervously—not without reason since some Roman were bound to find us soon. But they were waiting for me.

Leo asked: "Sun girl, what's Carrot Boy talking about? About going to Camp Half-blood?"

I made up my mind. "No time to explain. I'll stay here. You'd better get running. Romans are fast." With a few hesitating glances at me, Jason and Leo were off. Not a moment too late. Dakota and all the others came racing after them almost instantly. They were so intent on their task they didn't notice Bobby and me.

"What are you doing? I'll be fine! You should hurry!" Bobby kept on pestering me but I didn't reply. There was nothing to say. My friend was hurt and it was only natural for me to heal him. Taking advantage of the period of no disturbance, I quickly went to work with Bobby's wound, pouring nectar on it and bandaging it up.

When I was finally done I stood up and took a few steps back. Bobby asked: "Are you leaving now? I mean, for good?"

I nodded. As much as I didn't want to leave my new friends in Cohort Five, I knew there won't be a chance like this anymore. Even if I couldn't get help from the crew of ArgoⅡ, I could at least be free of pretending and lying and feeling insecure all the time.

"Thanks for everything, Bobby. We'll meet again." Then I ran off.

As soon as I ran into the battle areas, I saw how serious things had become. Eagles and demigods were fighting everywhere. Susan, Howard and Rick were all trying to chase Leo, who was nimbly ducking from portico to portico, blasting fire in his pursuers' faces'. Jason was fighting Dakota and winning it too. I ran past all of them and headed straight towards the ship. I even thought I saw something suspiciously like the black pegasus of Percy's battling an eagle. _I'm getting on board no matter what. _What I hadn't foreseen was Octavian along with two other demigods who were single scouts climbing out of the bay of the demolished dock. I tried to run past without getting his attention but his eyes were too sharp for my liking.

"June Loras!" He yelled as he grabbed my arm to prevent me from escaping. "What do you think you are doing? Going over to that side at last?"

"Get off, Octavian!" I growled, struggling. But his grip was surprisingly strong for an arm so skinny.

"So you are a spy!" Octavian hissed, his eyes glinting triumphantly.

I gave up. There was no need to pretend anymore. "I'm not a spy but I _am _planning to abandon my post. I'm leaving Camp Jupiter."

"And you think I'm just going to_ let _you do that?" Octavian sneered. "Your actions have violated many of our camp rules and you are going to pay for it."

Pulling out my dagger, I pointed it at Octavian and threatened with the most menacing face I could manage. "Let go or you'll taste my blade."

"You're not going to do that, Loras."

"Oh yeah?" I raised my eyebrows. "You want me prove you wrong?"

After a moment of tension, Octavian let go and jumped immediately behind the other two Romans. "Get her!" My coward of a relative yelled.

I was about to give a speech of persuasion but suddenly the air and water around us changed. I looked towards the ship and saw Percy and Jason standing together, brewing up a storm. I also saw that all the crew where on board and the ship was already starting to leave.

Octavian realized his mistake at once and started to frantically urge the Romans gathered to stop them.

"Leo! Percy!" I called, hoping one of them would hear me and help me get on board but the storm was growing huger and huger. My voice was lost in the wind and rain. And it was getting harder to stand stably. As ArgoⅡ rose into the air and unmistakably wasn't going to come get me, I turned my back towards the sea and ran in a random direction—as long as it took me away from the Romans.

My legs kept pumping as eagles screeched, people screamed and storm raged behind me. I didn't dare stop, hoping to put a large as possible distance between me and the Romans before they get themselves out of the storm. The eagles could find me easily, especially Copper, who was accustomed to my scent already so I knew I had to find a way to get to New York quickly and inconspicuously. I was almost on the verge of Fort Sumter when I saw a familiar black figure standing near a crumbled wall, contently savoring the grass around it.

"You!" I cried as I saw hope, racing up to the black pegasus. I knew I had seen him in the midst of the fighting. The horse snorted at me loftily and shook his sleek mane, as if trying to show off how unharmed he was after winning a battle.

"I know, I know, you're the best." I patted him appraisingly. He trotted in satisfaction. I decided to give my plan a shot. "So, I'm in some sort of trouble right now. Like, really serious trouble…do you think you can give me a ride?"

The pegasus neighed indignantly…so that's a 'no'.

"I know probably you don't like letting people other than Percy ride you, but this is an emergency. If you don't help me…I don't know what would become of me." I pleaded, giving him my best puppy eyes.

He swished his tail and rustled his wings for a while. Finally he nudged my hand and looked at me with smart black eyes that were saying, _just this once, punk. _

I promised myself to reward the pegasus with sugar cubes as soon as we reach my destination and climbed onto his back. The winged horse cantered to a wider space and spread its gorgeous black wings. With one powerful stroke, he flew into the azure sky.

I clung tightly on his mane and yelled: "Take me to Camp Half-blood!"

The pegasus snorted reproachfully.

"Please, oh mighty one." I added quickly. He nodded in satisfaction and sped up. A giddy, wobbly feeling filled my stomach and I wondered what it was until I suddenly burst into laughter. It was the feeling of relief, anticipation, excitement, hopefulness…a mixture of feelings I hadn't felt for a long time. Now, I was flying on a wonderful pure black pegasus under a bright sun in the clear blue sky and over the west coastline of America. And I was heading towards Camp Half-blood, where I really belonged. What else can a daughter of Apollo want?

xxx

Riding the pegasus was a lot more comfortable than being dangled along by an eagle. The black horse glided through the sky so smoothly that I didn't even need to hold onto anything. We flew on and on until night fell, when the pegasus insisted on descending into a city for donuts and a nap. Though we slept a bit more than I would like, as anxious as I was to get to New York, I wasn't going to complain. The horse was already doing me a great favor and he needed his rest. And, I didn't think he would take me complaining or instructing him around nicely.

The next morning, the gods blessed me with another cloudless sunny day. I guess they must be trying to make up for all the misfortunes I had gone through the past few weeks. Before I knew it, I had the familiar view of New York City in my eyes. Skyscrapers reflected the sun, cars horned and blared in the traffic, the sound of more than a billion citizens bustling in their either ordinary or extraordinary lives—I was finally back in my city. The pegasus kept on flying until he took me to Long Island, and descended down…right in front of a scaly serpent writhing around a large pine tree with a golden fleece hanging on its branches.

"Wow. This is Thalia's tree, right?" I wondered out loud, trying to associate the tree with the dark haired hunter.

I slid off the pegasus and stood hesitating at the entrance of Camp Half-blood. I've been dreaming of being where I was now for so long, but now that my feet refused to move. I stood on the spot, staring down at the beautiful valley of Camp Half-blood, mind completely blank.

Suddenly, the pegasus butted me with his head and neighed. _What are you waiting for?_ He shook his midnight black mane and took off, flying into the valley. I smiled and ran after him.

I was an idiot. The second I ran down into the grounds of Camp Half-blood, a dozen of campers in the same orange T-shirt dropped whatever activity they were doing and surrounded me, weapons at hand—my purple Camp Jupiter shirt and golden armor and weapons were screaming _Rome. _

"Roman!" Someone yelled, "What do you want? If this is…"

I raised my hand and replied quickly: "Wait! I'm not Roman! I mean, I _did _come from Camp Jupiter…"

"Ah! You are a spy!"

"No!" _Why am I always regarded as a spy?_ "I'm Greek! I just escaped the Romans…"

Before I could finish my explanation, a tall blond boy with a pointed nose pushed through the crowd and said in confusion: "July?"

I pounced on him immediately: "You know July? Where is she?"

But he just stared at me: "You're…not July?" All the others stared at him.

"No. I'm her sister." I said quickly. "What about Landyn Green? Where is he?"

An Asian girl with perfect make-up who was standing by watching eyed me suspiciously: "He's not around. On a task with the new girl. You _do _look exactly like her. But if you're twins, why didn't you come to Camp with her?"

The blond guy took my arm before I could answer and pulled me towards the big blue house nearby: "Explain to Chiron. He'll know what to make of you. I'm Will Solace, counselor of Apollo's cabin, which is July's cabin, by the way."

xxx

Chiron looked as if he had seen a ghost when he saw me. But he didn't say much except to let me explain how I got here.

"So…you got transported to Camp Jupiter instead of Camp Half-blood and stayed there pretending to be a new Roman recruit?" Chiron asked after I was finished.

I nodded: "Yeah. My Dad visited me in my dreams and warned me not to expose my identity."

The wise centaur raised an eyebrow: "Well, that's unexpected. Apollo is seldom so considerate. You're lucky to have met Blackjack."

"Blackjack?"

"Percy's pegasus. It's also a wonder that Blackjack would be willing to take you back here…he usually never allows anybody except for Percy or Annabeth to ride him." Chiron smiled.

I asked: "I've heard July and Landyn went on a task. So, they're not back yet?"

"No. But they should be back soon." Chiron said. "Actually, they contacted me just earlier this morning. They've finished their task already and I have asked them to return immediately. Meanwhile, Will can take you around camp."

"Thanks!" I could barely hide my excitement. Everything was fine and I was going to see July and Landyn soon! I hopped up from my seat and managed not to skip out of the Big House.

Will Solace was extremely interested my story, especially about my experiences in the Roman camp, but since Chiron advised me not to say much about Camp Jupiter, I skirted around his inquires and said the Romans didn't really let me know much because they suspected me too. After a fantastic tour I got to the cabin and Will returned to his usual activities.

Cabin 5, Apollo's cabin, was exactly as what I'd seen in the dream I had the day before Cohort Five set out to track ArgoⅡ. Wide large windows, spacey, cluttered with bows, arrows and musical instruments, I couldn't imagine it as anything else except for a place where children of Apollo lived. The cabin was empty—I guess everyone was at their morning activities. As Will didn't have time to prepare mine yet, I made my way towards the bunk bed I remembered that was July's. The bed was made and the bedside table tidied—she hadn't slept in here for some time. Slowly, I took off the Roman armor Susan bought for me. Then I removed my gold gladius and dagger, which turned out hadn't been used even once. At last, my hand slipped to my thigh and pulled out a battered bronze gun that was strapped there. _It was a Smith and Wesson Model 686 revolver "The President"_, Landyn had told me. His face shining with excitement and happiness when he said that appeared clearly in my mind. Now, I can finally give it back to him.

Just as I was rummaging through July's drawers to see if there was any clothes I can change into, someone came knocking on the door. And it sounded urgent. I hurried over and opened the door. Outside stood a guy with ridiculously curly brown hair and….wait, horns? I gapped at him.

"Could you please not stare at me?" He complained, "I'm a satyr."

I shut my mouth that was hanging open, and my eyes moved away from his horns…only to get stuck on his furry goat legs.

"Oh, come on!" He groaned. "Get used to it!"

I burst into laughing and looked away with difficulty: "I'm sorry! It's just that…I've never been so close to a satyr before. So why are you here?"

"I'm Grover. Landyn and July rescued me from Polyphemus. They were supposed to come back to camp with me but…" The satyr turned serious and lowered his voice. "…they are looking for you, June."

"What?" I asked, not certain about what I've heard.

Grover looked furtively behind him to see if anyone was eavesdropping. "I mean, I had detected the Romans here in New York and Landyn and July went looking for them…because they thought you would be with the Romans."

"WHAT?" I said again.

"Chiron forbade them but they disobeyed. I've already told Chiron they are not here with me because they went to visit their families." Grover continued, "I think Chiron suspects, but he didn't say anything."

My head was spinning. "Then…then what should I do now? The Romans will…I don't know, imprison them!"

"Calm down, June." Grover said quickly, "I don't know if they've found the Romans yet. Besides, they can take care of themselves. I'm sure they won't let the Romans get them! We just need to find them and tell them you're here."

"Oh right!" I said, sheepish at my panicky. "So we just need to Iris Message them right? I don't know how to do it, so can you teach me…"

Grover interrupted with a regretful expression. "I tried already. But I couldn't get connection. Maybe Iris is on vacation. It happens sometimes. I think you need to go find them."

I clenched my fists. I'm not going to be beaten after all this. "Fine. I'll just say I want to visit Mom too and find them."

Grover nodded. "Yeah, that's a great idea. Anyway, I think they are somewhere in Manhattan, since, according to my last tracking spell, the Romans are supposed to be there."

From all the time I stayed with the Romans, I knew they must have a camping site where they could organize the troops and plan strategies. There were three Cohorts that headed here, minus Cohort Five who went after the ArgoⅡ and Cohort Four who stayed in New Rome to secure the city. That was a lot of people. The gears in my mind whirred.

"They must be in Central Park!" I cried out. I ignored Grover's questioning look and ran to find Chiron.

Luckily the old centaur didn't object and even offered to let Argo drive me home as soon as lunch was over. I accepted gratefully. After all, I did want to see Mom badly—I haven't seen her for weeks! She must be worried sick!

Argo was a fast driver (let's try to ignore the fact that he had eyes all over his body) but by the time he stopped in front of my house, the sun had set. I thanked him quickly and rushed up the door. With trembling fingers, I pushed the door bell. I know I should be getting to Central Park immediately, but I wanted to see Mom _so bad_.

Seconds later, the door creaked open. Mom stood in front of me, her hair in a careless bun, wearing her old apron.

"June?" Mom said, eyes wide. I threw myself at her and hugged her tightly. A familiar scent of paint and coffee and butter surrounded me. I was so glad to be in her arms again.

Mom eased me into the house and closed the door. Her hand smoothing my hair was warm and gentle. "I didn't know you were coming home today! What's the matter, June?"

"Nothing." My voice was muffled . "I've missed you so much."

Mom laughed. "So have I, baby. I was pretty disappointed when you didn't come with July."

"July was here?" I asked in surprise.

"A few days ago. Didn't she tell you? She told me you couldn't come because you were having Ancient Greek class." Mom said, "She brought back a guy too. Is he her boyfriend, that Landyn Green?"

"Um, of course. I forgot." I said, deciding to play along. "And…no, Landyn is not her boyfriend." For some reason, I just couldn't imagine that.

Mom didn't ask any more, apart from demanding why I had come in such dirty clothes and why my hair became like this. I had to tell her my hair got tangled into an electric fan so I had no choice but to cut it. She muttered about what a pity it was and went busy preparing me a delicious dinner. I ended up in my old bed at night, trying to sleep while knowing time to find July and Landyn was ticking by.

The next morning I got up early and after a fantastic breakfast of cheese omelets, I changed back into my Camp Jupiter clothes and set off to Central Park. In case I have to face the Romans, it would be better I looked Roman…who knows how fast word of my 'betrayal' would reach the troops here.

Ok, I confess…I got lost again. I took the wrong train for about four times before I finally got to Central Park. I ran into the park, having no idea how to find my sister and that idiot son of Aphrodite in such a large area. Suddenly, I hear a huge screech. I looked in search of the source and I gasped. A huge black dragon glinted in the distance, thrashing around as if fight something. The tourists around me frowned and looked towards it reproachfully the way one would glare at an especially noisy construction site. There must be demigods there. Keeping my eyes trained on the dragon, I broke off into a sprint.

The park was a lot larger than I expected. As I ran and ran, I could see the dragon was fighting viciously until at one point it made the mistake of raising its head in pursuance of something flying in the air near it and got shot by dozens of arrows in the neck. I poured on speed and navigated through clusters of mortals towards it.

Suddenly, I stopped short. I was in plain sight of the Roman campsite now, which flickered under the mist as a fenced area of tree saplings to keep mortals out. Two teenagers were running away from it…right at me. One was a guy with tousled brown hair, looking behind his shoulder at the falling dragon. The other was a girl with a long slivery blond ponytail.

The girl met my eyes, jerking to a stop. Twin sets of light blue eyes mirrored each other. She was stricken obviously, flinging out an arm to stop the boy. The boy turned in question.

July and Landyn stood feet away, looking at me with shocked expressions.

Emotion built up in my chest but I couldn't seem to move. While my insides were churning, on the outside, unfortunately, I probably looked in a daze.

"JUNE!" They both screamed and rushed towards me. They barreled into me and wrapped me into a three-people group hug.

"You stupid! How could you get it wrong? If you'd used your brain, you wouldn't get sent to Camp Jupiter!" July yelled, her voice cracking. She buried her face into my shoulder and sobbed.

Landyn hugged me tight and mumbled: "I can't believe you're here."

I unfroze at last. "I'm back, guys."

**Phew! That was one L-O-N-G chapter…5790 words (not including A/N). What do you think about it? Since this is already the last full chapter I would write in Percy Jackson fanfiction, please give me some last reviews! At least let me know my work was worth something!**

**-Amber-**


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